Yung Lean's Real Name: Jonatan Leandoer Håstad

Quick answer: The rapper performs as Yung Lean, and his real name is Jonatan Leandoer Håstad. The Guardian, in 2014 and 2020, and GQ, in 2025, all give that name. AllMusic gives a fuller form, Jonatan Aron Leandoer Håstad, and lists his birth as July 18, 1996, in Stockholm, Sweden. He also releases music as Jonatan Leandoer96.

Real name and early life

The Guardian's 2014 profile says "Yung Lean, born Jonatan Leandoer Håstad," and that he turned 18 that July, which fits a July 1996 birth. The Guardian's 2020 interview calls him "real name Jonatan Leandoer Håstad," and GQ's 2025 profile by Eileen Cartter says he was "born Jonatan Leandoer Håstad" and calls him a Stockholm native. AllMusic says he was born Jonatan Aron Leandoer Håstad on July 18, 1996, in Stockholm, and lists Jonatan Leandoer96 as another name.

GQ says his father is Kristoffer Leandoer, a Swedish writer and literary critic, and that he grew up in Stockholm with his parents and a younger sister. It says the stage name is both a shortening of his surname and a reference to codeine cough syrup. GQ also says he absorbed American culture as a child, including MF Doom and J Dilla.

Career highlights

AllMusic says he was 16 when he joined producers Yung Gud and Yung Sherman in the Sad Boys around 2012, and that "Ginseng Strip 2002" became a viral hit in 2013. The Guardian's 2014 profile says follow-up tracks racked up millions of views and that by 18 he had played sold-out venues across the United States.

AllMusic lists his debut album Unknown Memory (2014), Warlord (2015), and Stranger (2017), which reached No. 18 in Sweden. It says his fourth album, Starz, arrived in May 2020, just after the Tribeca premiere of the documentary Yung Lean: In My Head. The Guardian's 2020 interview calls Starz the first album he made sober, or close to it.

Both GQ and the Guardian say he has spoken publicly about mental health. GQ says that during a 2015 recording trip to Miami Beach he was admitted to a psychiatric care facility, and that he has discussed a 2017 bipolar diagnosis. The Guardian says he records punk with the band Död Mark and released the album Nectar as Jonatan Leandoer96.

GQ says his fifth studio album, Jonatan, came out in 2025, that he headlined Stockholm's Avicii Arena, and that he made his feature film debut in Sacrifice, playing a character whose father is played by John Malkovich. AllMusic lists his 2024 collaboration Psykos with Bladee.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Yung Lean, Jonatan Leandoer Håstad, Jonatan Hastad, or Jonatan Leandoer96 are looking for the same Swedish artist. Leandoer is his father's surname.