Asha
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Sanskrit used in India. Borrowed from Sanskrit आशा (āśā, “hope, wish”).
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Asha (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Asha has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2009. 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 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | – |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | – |
| 2004 | 2 |
| 2005 | – |
| 2006 | – |
| 2007 | 2 |
| 2008 | 4 |
| 2009 | 5 |
| 2010 | 5 |
| 2011 | – |
| 2012 | 2 |
| 2013 | 2 |
| 2014 | 5 |
| 2015 | 3 |
| 2016 | 3 |
| 2017 | – |
| 2018 | – |
| 2019 | – |
| 2020 | 2 |
| 2021 | – |
| 2022 | – |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 267 |
| 2000 | 274 |
| 2001 | 280 |
| 2002 | 283 |
| 2003 | 289 |
| 2004 | 289 |
| 2005 | 289 |
| 2006 | 316 |
| 2007 | 338 |
| 2008 | 363 |
| 2009 | 405 |
| 2010 | 449 |
| 2011 | 456 |
| 2012 | 482 |
| 2013 | 525 |
| 2014 | 555 |
| 2015 | 571 |
| 2016 | 595 |
| 2017 | 619 |
| 2018 | 620 |
| 2019 | 634 |
| 2020 | 631 |
Asha in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Asha.Hi! My name is Asha.
- Asha har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Asha has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Jag ska fika med Asha i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Asha this afternoon.
- Ashas mamma är lärare.Asha's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Ashas mamma is Asha's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Asha
How do you pronounce Asha in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Asha in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Asha mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Sanskrit used in India. Borrowed from Sanskrit आशा (āśā, “hope, wish”).
How popular is Asha in Sweden?
Fewer than two babies of either sex were named Asha in 2022. In 2020, 631 people in Sweden had Asha as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 2009 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.