Anja
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Russian.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Anja (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Anja has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2003. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 21 |
| 1999 | 26 |
| 2000 | 29 |
| 2001 | 36 |
| 2002 | 36 |
| 2003 | 45 |
| 2004 | 32 |
| 2005 | 25 |
| 2006 | 29 |
| 2007 | 33 |
| 2008 | 22 |
| 2009 | 28 |
| 2010 | 23 |
| 2011 | 19 |
| 2012 | 8 |
| 2013 | 14 |
| 2014 | 16 |
| 2015 | 17 |
| 2016 | 26 |
| 2017 | 23 |
| 2018 | 22 |
| 2019 | 26 |
| 2020 | 13 |
| 2021 | 23 |
| 2022 | 12 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 3,551 |
| 2000 | 3,566 |
| 2001 | 3,590 |
| 2002 | 3,619 |
| 2003 | 3,632 |
| 2004 | 3,649 |
| 2005 | 3,660 |
| 2006 | 3,685 |
| 2007 | 3,705 |
| 2008 | 3,716 |
| 2009 | 3,735 |
| 2010 | 3,728 |
| 2011 | 3,721 |
| 2012 | 3,700 |
| 2013 | 3,692 |
| 2014 | 3,670 |
| 2015 | 3,660 |
| 2016 | 3,649 |
| 2017 | 3,651 |
| 2018 | 3,639 |
| 2019 | 3,648 |
| 2020 | 3,612 |
Anja in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Anja.Hi! My name is Anja.
- Anja bor i Göteborg och pluggar till sjuksköterska.Anja lives in Gothenburg and is training to be a nurse.
- Vet du om Anja kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Anja is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Anjas mamma är lärare.Anja's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Anjas mamma is Anja's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Anja
How do you pronounce Anja in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Anja from a native speaker's recording. J is said like the English y.
What does the name Anja mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Russian.
How popular is Anja in Sweden?
12 babies were named Anja in 2022. In 2020, 3,612 people in Sweden had Anja as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 2003 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.