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 ...

. It has a common origin with the Norwegian

Haakon (modern Norwegian

Håkon Haakon, also spelled Håkon (in Norway), Hakon (in Denmark), Håkan (in Sweden),Oxford Dictionary of First Names Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle, Flavia Hodges - 2006 "Håkon Norwegian: from the Old Norse personal name Hákon or Háukon, from hā ...

, Danish Hakon) in the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

''Hákon''. The meaning of the name is disputed but a possible meaning is "high son" from

''há-'' (

Proto-Norse Proto-Norse (also called Ancient Nordic, Ancient Scandinavian, Ancient Norse, Primitive Norse, Proto-Nordic, Proto-Scandinavian and Proto-North Germanic) was an Indo-European language spoken in Scandinavia that is thought to have evolved as a ...

''hauha-'') (high) and ''konr'' (kin). On Swedish

runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition began in the 4th century and lasted into the 12th century, but most of the runestones d ...

s 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 the name was written Yakun ( Cyrillic: Якун). For example, the Primary Chronicle mentions the

Varangian The Varangians (; non, Væringjar; gkm, Βάραγγοι, ''Várangoi'';Varangian
" Online Etymo ...

leader

Yakun Yakun or Jakun, deriving from Old Norse ''Hákon'', was a Varangian (Viking) leader who is mentioned in the '' Primary Chronicle'' and in the Cave monastery in Kyiv. The chronicle tells that he arrived in Kievan Rus' in the year 1024 and fought in ...

that arrived in

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...

in the year 1024 and fought in the

Battle of Listven The Battle of Listven (1024) was part of the succession struggle following the death of Vladimir the Great (Volodymyr) in 1015. It was fought between Mstislav of Chernigov and Kievan forces supporting Yaroslav the Wise; Mstislav defeated Yaroslav ...

. The name never became popular as a Slavic name but at least two high rank Novgorod officials had the name: the

posadnik Posadnik (Cyrillic: посадник, (literally: по-садник - ''pre-sident'') was the mayor in some East Slavic cities or towns. Most notably, the posadnik (equivalent to a stadtholder, burgomeister, or podestà in the medieval west) was ...

Yakun Andreevich ( Cyrillic: Якун Андреевич) (mentioned 1167) and the

tysyatsky A tysyatsky ( rus, тысяцкий, p=ˈtɨsʲɪt͡skʲɪj, " thousandman"), sometimes translated '' dux'' or ''herzog'', was a military leader in ancient Rus' who commanded a people's volunteer army called a ''thousand'' ( rus, тысяча, tys ...

Yakun Namnezhich ( Cyrillic: Якун Намнежич) (mentioned 1214). An old English name form ''Hacon'' has survived in English placenames like

Haconby Haconby is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2001 census was 448 increasing to 532 at the 2011 census. It is situated on the western edge of the Linco ...

which literally means ''Hacon's Village'', originating through Norse settlers in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Some famous people by this name are * Håkan Algotsson, ice hockey player *

Håkan Andersson (motorcyclist) Håkan Andersson (born June 29, 1945) is a Swedish former professional motocross racer. He competed in the Motocross World Championships from 1966 to 1979. Andersson won the F.I.M. 250cc Motocross World Championship in 1973. Born in Uddevalla, ...

, Swedish motocross rider *

Håkan Andersson (ice hockey) Håkan Andersson (born 19 February 1965 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish amateur hockey scout who currently serves as the Director of European Scouting for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). Formerly a fishing guide ...

, ice hockey executive *

Håkan Bergman Carl-Håkan Bergman (born 1954) is a Swedish politician and former member of the Riksdag, the national legislature. A member of the Social Democratic Party, he represented Örebro County Örebro County ( sv, Örebro län) is a county or '' l� ...

(born 1954), Swedish politician *

Håkan Carlqvist Håkan Carlqvist (15 January 1954 – 6 July 2017) was a Swedish professional motocross racer. He competed in the Motocross World Championships from 1974 to 1988. Carlqvist was a two-time world champion who was known for his fierce competiti ...

(1954–2017), motocross rider *

Håkan Dahlby Håkan Dahlby (born 15 September 1965) is a Swedish double trap shooter, the winner of the 2003, 2004, and 2012 European Championships. He won a silver medal at the 2012 Olympics after having the best final round of all finalists and moving from ...

, double trap shooter *

Håkan Eriksson (orienteer) Håkan Eriksson (born 20 August 1961) is a Swedish orienteering competitor. He received a silver medal in the ''relay'' at the 1989 World Orienteering Championships in Skövde, and received a bronze medal in 1999. He received a silver medal i ...

, orienteering competitor *

Håkan Eriksson (ice hockey) Håkan Lars Elias Eriksson (born January 24, 1956) is a retired Swedish ice hockey player. Eriksson began playing hockey in Bjurfors IF but was acquired by Skellefteå AIK in 1974. He became Swedish champions with Skellefteå in 1978, and was a pa ...

, ice hockey player *

Håkan Fredriksson Håkan Fredriksson (born December 18, 1970) is a Swedish producer and musician. He has been credited to work with bands/artists such as Within Temptation, Da Buzz, Fredrik Kempe and A*Teens A-Teens (stylized as A★TEENS or A*Teens) were a S ...

, producer and musician * Håkan Hagegård, baritone *

Håkan Hardenberger Ulf Håkan Hardenberger (born 27 October 1961 in Malmö) is a Swedish trumpeter. Taking up the trumpet at the age of eight under the guidance of hometown teacher Bo Nilsson, Hardenberger pursued further studies at the Paris Conservatoire, with ...

, trumpeter * Håkan Hellström, musical artist * Håkan Isacson, Swedish intelligence agent * Håkan Jeppsson, Swedish football executive * Håkan Juholt, politician * Håkan Jörgensen, author and freelance journalist * Håkan Karlsson, freestyle swimmer *

Håkan Lans Anders Håkan Lans (born 2 November 1947 in Enskede) is a Swedish inventor. He holds two patents: * a memory controller for a framebuffer: "Data processing system and apparatus for color graphics display". Framebuffer with memory controllers had ...

, inventor *

Håkan Larsson (politician) Håkan Larsson (born 1950) is a Swedish Centre Party politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that ...

, politician *

Håkan Loob Håkan Per Loob (born 3 July 1960) is a Swedish former professional ice hockey player for Färjestad BK of the Elitserien and the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is the head of European Scouting for the Calgary Flames afte ...

, ice hockey player * Håkan Magnusson, 14th-century king of Sweden *

Håkan Malmrot Håkan Malmrot (29 November 1900 – 10 January 1987) was a Swedish breaststroke swimmer. He won two gold medals at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, in the 200 m and 400 m events, both times with Swedish Thor Henning as silver medalist. In 1 ...

, swimmer * Håkan Malmström, football player * Håkan Mild, 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 pre ...

, author * Håkan Persson, musical journalist * Håkan Pettersson (orienteer), orienteering competitor * Håkan Samuelsson, Swedish businessman * Håkan Sandell, poet * Håkan Spegel, 17-18th century writer * Håkan Svensson, football player *

Håkan Syrén General Håkan Erik Gunnar Syrén (born 31 January 1952) is a retired officer of the Swedish Coastal Artillery/ Swedish Amphibious Corps and former Chairman of the European Union Military Committee. He was the Supreme Commander of the Swedish A ...

, general *

Håkan Södergren Karl Håkan Södergren (born 14 June 1959 in Rosersberg, Sweden) is a retired professional ice hockey player, often a recurring color commentator in Viasat's ice hockey broadcast productions. Playing career Södergren played ...

, ice hockey player *

Håkan Westergren Håkan Karl Leonard Westergren (29 April 1899 – 15 October 1981) was a Swedish actor. He was mostly known for playing in Swedish comedy movies during the 1930s and 1940s, but was sometimes seen in some more serious roles. He was married to ...

, actor *Håkan Wirenstrand, keyboardist for

Little Dragon Little Dragon are a Swedish electronic music band from Gothenburg, Sweden, formed in 1996. The band consists of Yukimi Nagano (vocals, percussion), Erik Bodin (drums), Fredrik Wallin (bass) and Håkan Wirenstrand (keyboards). Little Dragon' ...

Håkan the Red Håkan the Red ( Swedish: ''Håkan Röde'') was a king of Sweden, reigning for about half a decade in the second half of the 11th century.''Håkan Röde'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin'': There is little information on him, and it is mostly contradic ...

, 11th-century king of Sweden

See also