Marja
Meaning and origin
A vernacular form of Maria first recorded in the 17th century.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Marja (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Marja has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2005. 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 | 3 |
| 2005 | 4 |
| 2006 | 2 |
| 2007 | – |
| 2008 | 2 |
| 2009 | – |
| 2010 | 2 |
| 2011 | – |
| 2012 | – |
| 2013 | 2 |
| 2014 | – |
| 2015 | 2 |
| 2016 | – |
| 2017 | – |
| 2018 | 4 |
| 2019 | 4 |
| 2020 | – |
| 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 | 1,702 |
| 2000 | 1,687 |
| 2001 | 1,670 |
| 2002 | 1,664 |
| 2003 | 1,656 |
| 2004 | 1,640 |
| 2005 | 1,636 |
| 2006 | 1,626 |
| 2007 | 1,611 |
| 2008 | 1,587 |
| 2009 | 1,581 |
| 2010 | 1,569 |
| 2011 | 1,565 |
| 2012 | 1,551 |
| 2013 | 1,538 |
| 2014 | 1,515 |
| 2015 | 1,503 |
| 2016 | 1,492 |
| 2017 | 1,481 |
| 2018 | 1,452 |
| 2019 | 1,437 |
| 2020 | 1,414 |
Marja in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Marja.Hi! My name is Marja.
- Har du träffat Marja? Hon började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Marja? She started working here on Monday.
- Jag ska fika med Marja i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Marja this afternoon.
- Marjas mamma är lärare.Marja's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Marjas mamma is Marja's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Marja
How do you pronounce Marja in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Marja from a native speaker's recording. J is said like the English y.
What does the name Marja mean?
A vernacular form of Maria first recorded in the 17th century.
How popular is Marja in Sweden?
Fewer than two babies of either sex were named Marja in 2022. In 2020, 1,414 people in Sweden had Marja as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 2005 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.