Håkan is a common

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...

. It has a common origin with the Norwegian

Haakon (modern Norwegian Håkon, Danish

Hakon Hakon is the Danish spelling of the Norwegian name Håkon or Haakon. The name is also related to the Danish form Hagen (given name) and Hagen (surname).''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'' ed. Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle, Flavia Hodges - 2006 ...

) in the Old Norse ''Hákon''. The meaning of the name is disputed but a possible meaning is "high son" from Old Norse ''há-'' ( Proto-Norse ''hauha-'') (high) and ''konr'' (kin). On Swedish runestones the name is usually written ''Hakun'' and in medieval documents usually ''Haquon'' or in the Latinised versions ''Haqvin''/''Haqvinus''. From the 16th century and onwards the name is usually written Håkan. Although in some western regions the name can be found as Håkon and Håka as late as in the 18th century. In

Old East Slavic Old East Slavic (traditionally also Old Russian; be, старажытнаруская мова; russian: древнерусский язык; uk, давньоруська мова) was a language used during the 9th–15th centuries by East ...

the name was written Yakun (

Cyrillic , bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця , fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs , fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic , fam3 = Phoenician , fam4 = G ...

: Якун). For example, the

Primary Chronicle The ''Tale of Bygone Years'' ( orv, Повѣсть времѧньныхъ лѣтъ, translit=Pověstĭ vremęnĭnyxŭ lětŭ; ; ; ; ), often known in English as the ''Rus' Primary Chronicle'', the ''Russian Primary Chronicle'', or simply the ...

mentions the Varangian leader Yakun that arrived in Kievan Rus' in the year 1024 and fought in the Battle of Listven. The name never became popular as a Slavic name but at least two high rank

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...

officials had the name: the posadnik Yakun Andreevich (

: Якун Андреевич) (mentioned 1167) and the tysyatsky Yakun Namnezhich (

: Якун Намнежич) (mentioned 1214). An old English name form ''Hacon'' has survived in English placenames like Haconby which literally means ''Hacon's Village'', originating through

Norse Norse is a demonym for Norsemen, a medieval North Germanic ethnolinguistic group ancestral to modern Scandinavians, defined as speakers of Old Norse from about the 9th to the 13th centuries. Norse may also refer to: Culture and religion * Nor ...

settlers in England. Some famous people by this name are *

Håkan Algotsson Håkan Ulf Göran Algotsson (born August 5, 1966, in Tyringe, Sweden) is a retired Swedish ice hockey goaltender. Algotsson began his career with his hometown Tyringe SoSS in 1983. In 1988, Algotsson joined Västra Frölunda and would spen ...

, ice hockey player * Håkan Andersson (motorcyclist), Swedish motocross rider * Håkan Andersson (ice hockey), ice hockey executive * Håkan Bergman (born 1954), Swedish politician * Håkan Carlqvist (1954–2017), motocross rider * Håkan Dahlby, double trap shooter * Håkan Eriksson (orienteer), orienteering competitor * Håkan Eriksson (ice hockey), ice hockey player * Håkan Fredriksson, producer and musician * Håkan Hagegård, baritone * Håkan Hardenberger, trumpeter *

Håkan Hellström Håkan Georg Hellström (; born 2 April 1974) is a Swedish musician. He made his breakthrough in Sweden in 2000 with the song "Känn ingen sorg för mig Göteborg" and the album with the same name. He has released nine studio albums to date wit ...

, musical artist *

Håkan Isacson Håkan Isacson (1943–2002) was a Swedish intelligence agent who became known as the whistleblower of the IB affair, a political scandal in Sweden in the 1970s. Isacson was a former employee at IB, a secret Swedish domestic intelligence organizati ...

, Swedish intelligence agent *

Håkan Jeppsson Håkan Lennart Jeppsson (6 May 1961 – 6 December 2018) was a Swedish businessman who was the chairman of the Swedish Association football club Malmö FF, a post he held from 2010 until his death in 2018. Jeppsson received his education at Lund ...

, Swedish football executive *

Håkan Juholt Håkan Juholt (born 16 September 1962) is a Swedes, Swedish politician who was Swedish Social Democratic Party, Leader of the Social Democrats from 2011 to 2012. He was List of members of the Swedish Riksdag, 2006-2010, member of the Parliament ...

, politician *

Håkan Jörgensen Håkan Jörgensen, author and freelance journalist, was born 1969 and grew up in Asmundtorp outside Landskrona, Sweden.Håkan Jör ...

, author and freelance journalist *

Håkan Karlsson Jonas Klas Håkan Karlsson (born 19 January 1970) is a former freestyle swimmer from Sweden. He competed for his native country at the 1992 Summer Olympics in the men's 100-metre freestyle. He was affiliated with the Karlskrona SS Karlskron ...

, freestyle swimmer * Håkan Lans, inventor *

Håkan Larsson (politician) Håkan Larsson (born 1950) is a Swedish Centre Party politician, member of the Riksdag The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Ri ...

, politician * Håkan Loob, ice hockey player * Håkan Magnusson, 14th-century king of Sweden * Håkan Malmrot, swimmer *

Håkan Malmström Håkan Malmström (born 16 July 1977) is a Swedish footballer. He was a defender in the Swedish football club IF Brommapojkarna. He came to Brommapojkarna in the 2004 season, previously he has played for Segeltorps IF and Spårvägens FF Sp ...

, football player *

Håkan Mild Stig Håkan Mild (born 14 June 1971) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He is best remembered for his time with IFK Göteborg, with which he won four Swedish Championships. A full international betwe ...

, football player *

Håkan Nesser Håkan Nesser (born 21 February 1950) is a Swedish author and teacher who has written a number of successful novels, mostly but not only crime fiction. He has won Best Swedish Crime Novel Award three times, and his novel ''Carambole'' won the p ...

, author *

Håkan Persson Håkan Persson is a Swedish music journalist, born in Stockholm, 1 June. He has been the host and producer of P3 Rock, a radio show on P3, Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio AB (, "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio ...

, musical journalist *

Håkan Pettersson (orienteer) Håkan Pettersson is a Swedish orienteering competitor. He received a silver medal in the ''sprint distance'' at the 2002 European Orienteering Championships in Sümeg Sümeg (german: Schimeck) is a town in Veszprém county, Hungary. Sümeg is ...

, orienteering competitor *

Håkan Samuelsson Håkan Samuelsson (born 19 March 1951) is a Swedish businessman who has been chairman of the executive board (CEO) of Volvo Cars Corporation AB since October 2012. Previously, he was CEO of MAN SE from January 2005 to November 2009. Education ...

, Swedish businessman *

Håkan Sandell Håkan Sandell (born 16 February 1962 in Västra Skrävlinge) is a Swedish poet. Life and career Håkan Sandell emerged in the 1980s as a member of ''Malmöligan'', a group of poets based in Malmö, consisting of Sandell, Clemens Altgård, Per ...

, poet *

Håkan Spegel Haquin Spegel (Haqvin) (14 June 1645 – 17 April 1714), born ''Håkan Spegel'' in Ronneby in Blekinge (today in Sweden), was a religious author and hymn writer who held several bishop's seats. Life In 1675, the King Charles XI of Sweden appoi ...

, 17-18th century writer *

Håkan Svensson Alf Tommy Håkan Svensson (born 20 January 1970) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is best remembered for representing Halmstads BK between 1990 and 2002, with which he won two Allsvenskan titles as well ...

, football player * Håkan Syrén, general * Håkan Södergren, ice hockey player * Håkan Westergren, actor *Håkan Wirenstrand, keyboardist for Little Dragon * Håkan the Red, 11th-century king of Sweden

See also