Katja
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name, equivalent to English Katya.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Katja (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Katja has been fairly steady 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 | 18 |
| 1999 | 17 |
| 2000 | 13 |
| 2001 | 13 |
| 2002 | 12 |
| 2003 | 19 |
| 2004 | 16 |
| 2005 | 12 |
| 2006 | 11 |
| 2007 | 13 |
| 2008 | 10 |
| 2009 | 18 |
| 2010 | 9 |
| 2011 | 4 |
| 2012 | 2 |
| 2013 | 7 |
| 2014 | 10 |
| 2015 | 5 |
| 2016 | 8 |
| 2017 | 8 |
| 2018 | 6 |
| 2019 | 2 |
| 2020 | 4 |
| 2021 | 9 |
| 2022 | 7 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 1,984 |
| 2000 | 1,990 |
| 2001 | 1,995 |
| 2002 | 2,030 |
| 2003 | 2,049 |
| 2004 | 2,070 |
| 2005 | 2,094 |
| 2006 | 2,100 |
| 2007 | 2,142 |
| 2008 | 2,160 |
| 2009 | 2,173 |
| 2010 | 2,189 |
| 2011 | 2,192 |
| 2012 | 2,187 |
| 2013 | 2,205 |
| 2014 | 2,219 |
| 2015 | 2,225 |
| 2016 | 2,230 |
| 2017 | 2,234 |
| 2018 | 2,237 |
| 2019 | 2,229 |
| 2020 | 2,237 |
Katja in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Katja.Hi! My name is Katja.
- Har du träffat Katja? Hon började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Katja? She started working here on Monday.
- Jag ska fika med Katja i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Katja this afternoon.
- Katjas mamma är lärare.Katja's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Katjas mamma is Katja's mum.
More names
Questions about Katja
How do you pronounce Katja in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Katja from a native speaker's recording. J is said like the English y.
What does the name Katja mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name, equivalent to English Katya.
How popular is Katja in Sweden?
7 babies were named Katja in 2022. In 2020, 2,237 people in Sweden had Katja as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady 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.