Is my name Swedish?

Since my first month in Stockholm, I’ve known that my first name is quite a common name in Sweden (though pronounced differently…a “y” sound for the “j” and with two syllables). And my middle name isn’t unheard of either in Sweden. But if you asked me this: in which non-English-speaking country does “Franklin” have the highest rate of occurrence, I would not have guessed Sweden! Yet it’s true. Check it out for yourself.

By occurrences per million, the U.S. and Australia lead the pack at about 400, and New Zealand and the U.K. are close behind in the low 300’s. But then after Ireland and Canada, around 100, the next one is Sweden, with about 37 people per million sharing my surname. Where are these people? And (yikes!) is there a genuinely Swedish Joel Franklin running around somewhere? That just won’t do.