Athena
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Ancient Greek. From Middle English Athena, from Latin Athēna, from Ancient Greek Ἀθηνᾶ (Athēnâ). Doublet of Athina.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Athena (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, Athena has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2019. 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 | 8 |
| 2005 | 6 |
| 2006 | 4 |
| 2007 | 10 |
| 2008 | 6 |
| 2009 | 10 |
| 2010 | 7 |
| 2011 | 7 |
| 2012 | 10 |
| 2013 | 10 |
| 2014 | 12 |
| 2015 | 12 |
| 2016 | 29 |
| 2017 | 26 |
| 2018 | 16 |
| 2019 | 34 |
| 2020 | 23 |
| 2021 | 29 |
| 2022 | 25 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 42 |
| 2000 | 48 |
| 2001 | 49 |
| 2002 | 57 |
| 2003 | 62 |
| 2004 | 69 |
| 2005 | 73 |
| 2006 | 76 |
| 2007 | 88 |
| 2008 | 95 |
| 2009 | 107 |
| 2010 | 116 |
| 2011 | 124 |
| 2012 | 135 |
| 2013 | 144 |
| 2014 | 159 |
| 2015 | 177 |
| 2016 | 206 |
| 2017 | 233 |
| 2018 | 260 |
| 2019 | 296 |
| 2020 | 321 |
Athena in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Athena.Hi! My name is Athena.
- Athena har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Athena has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Vet du om Athena kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Athena is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Athenas mamma är lärare.Athena's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Athenas mamma is Athena's mum.
More names
Questions about Athena
How do you pronounce Athena in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Athena in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Athena mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Ancient Greek. From Middle English Athena, from Latin Athēna, from Ancient Greek Ἀθηνᾶ (Athēnâ). Doublet of Athina.
How popular is Athena in Sweden?
25 babies were named Athena in 2022. In 2020, 321 people in Sweden had Athena as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2019 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.