Haakon
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Meaning
high son, chosen son; borne by seven kings of Norway, including the current crown prince
The story
Haakon has been royal Norwegian property for a thousand years, an Old Norse name traditionally read as high son or chosen son. Seven kings of Norway have carried it, and the line is not finished: Crown Prince Haakon stands next in succession today. The most storied of them was Haakon VII, the Danish prince who accepted Norway's newly independent throne in 1905 and who, decades later, refused to bow to the German occupation, becoming the living symbol of his country's wartime resistance. In the United States the name is scarcely more than a rumor: the records show essentially nothing for over a century, then a faint stirring in the 2020s. That leaves Haakon in an unusual position, a name with a millennium of history and almost no American footprint, genuinely rare, unmistakably Nordic, and entirely certain of what it is.
How popular is Haakon around the world?
In the United States, 64 babies were named Haakon between 2020 and 2025. In Norway, 21 boys were given the name Haakon in 2025.
Haakon is on the official records of the United States and Norway.
United States
1 in 340,000
In the United States, 64 babies were named Haakon between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Haakon has stayed rare in US records the whole time: no peak decade to name.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Norway
1 in 1,300register 2026
In Norway, 21 boys were given the name Haakon in 2025.
share of the boys on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure
People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)
Austria
last on record 2013
Haakon is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
South Australia
last on record 2011
Haakon is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, England and Wales, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown.
When you meet Haakon
Most people given the name Haakon in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Haakon deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Haakon truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Haakon fits with your family’s names and surname.
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