Märta
Meaning and origin
A contraction through Old Danish Merete of Margareta (“Margaret”). First recorded in Sweden in 1342 as Märeta.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Märta (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Märta has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2011. 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 | 29 |
| 1999 | 37 |
| 2000 | 37 |
| 2001 | 57 |
| 2002 | 59 |
| 2003 | 70 |
| 2004 | 74 |
| 2005 | 99 |
| 2006 | 98 |
| 2007 | 116 |
| 2008 | 127 |
| 2009 | 143 |
| 2010 | 174 |
| 2011 | 187 |
| 2012 | 172 |
| 2013 | 171 |
| 2014 | 153 |
| 2015 | 168 |
| 2016 | 152 |
| 2017 | 151 |
| 2018 | 136 |
| 2019 | 186 |
| 2020 | 149 |
| 2021 | 174 |
| 2022 | 181 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 19,024 |
| 2000 | 17,984 |
| 2001 | 17,039 |
| 2002 | 16,081 |
| 2003 | 15,178 |
| 2004 | 14,281 |
| 2005 | 13,575 |
| 2006 | 12,877 |
| 2007 | 12,220 |
| 2008 | 11,666 |
| 2009 | 11,130 |
| 2010 | 10,615 |
| 2011 | 10,207 |
| 2012 | 9,816 |
| 2013 | 9,459 |
| 2014 | 9,098 |
| 2015 | 8,770 |
| 2016 | 8,429 |
| 2017 | 8,100 |
| 2018 | 7,809 |
| 2019 | 7,607 |
| 2020 | 7,380 |
Märta in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Märta.Hi! My name is Märta.
- Märta bor i Göteborg och pluggar till sjuksköterska.Märta lives in Gothenburg and is training to be a nurse.
- Vet du om Märta kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Märta is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Märtas mamma är lärare.Märta's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Märtas mamma is Märta's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Märta
How do you pronounce Märta in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Märta from a native speaker's recording. Ä is close to the e in 'bed'.
What does the name Märta mean?
A contraction through Old Danish Merete of Margareta (“Margaret”). First recorded in Sweden in 1342 as Märeta.
How popular is Märta in Sweden?
181 babies were named Märta in 2022. In 2020, 7,380 people in Sweden had Märta as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2011 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.