Freya
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Old Norse of mostly British usage. Scottish form of Old Norse Freyja (“mistress, lady”).
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Freya (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, Freya has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2020. 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 | 5 |
| 2006 | 13 |
| 2007 | 19 |
| 2008 | 32 |
| 2009 | 28 |
| 2010 | 39 |
| 2011 | 34 |
| 2012 | 63 |
| 2013 | 61 |
| 2014 | 66 |
| 2015 | 62 |
| 2016 | 81 |
| 2017 | 82 |
| 2018 | 74 |
| 2019 | 75 |
| 2020 | 87 |
| 2021 | 77 |
| 2022 | 79 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 16 |
| 2000 | 21 |
| 2001 | 28 |
| 2002 | 39 |
| 2003 | 44 |
| 2004 | 53 |
| 2005 | 60 |
| 2006 | 75 |
| 2007 | 98 |
| 2008 | 140 |
| 2009 | 179 |
| 2010 | 216 |
| 2011 | 255 |
| 2012 | 323 |
| 2013 | 381 |
| 2014 | 452 |
| 2015 | 520 |
| 2016 | 617 |
| 2017 | 705 |
| 2018 | 784 |
| 2019 | 859 |
| 2020 | 953 |
Freya in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Freya.Hi! My name is Freya.
- Har du träffat Freya? Hon började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Freya? She started working here on Monday.
- Freya har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Freya has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Freyas mamma är lärare.Freya's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Freyas mamma is Freya's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Freya
How do you pronounce Freya in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Freya in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Freya mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Old Norse of mostly British usage. Scottish form of Old Norse Freyja (“mistress, lady”).
How popular is Freya in Sweden?
79 babies were named Freya in 2022. In 2020, 953 people in Sweden had Freya as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2020 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.