Martha
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Aramaic of biblical origin. * From Latin Martha, from Ancient Greek Μάρθα (Mártha), from Aramaic מָרְתָא (mārtā, “mistress”), feminine of מרא (mārā). Doublet of Marfa. * (humidity chamber): From the use of Martha Stewart-branded storage closets in the construction of early units.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Martha (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, Martha has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2004. 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 | 9 |
| 2005 | 6 |
| 2006 | 5 |
| 2007 | 7 |
| 2008 | 5 |
| 2009 | 4 |
| 2010 | 7 |
| 2011 | 6 |
| 2012 | 8 |
| 2013 | – |
| 2014 | 6 |
| 2015 | 6 |
| 2016 | 5 |
| 2017 | 5 |
| 2018 | 2 |
| 2019 | 5 |
| 2020 | 7 |
| 2021 | 4 |
| 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 | 912 |
| 2000 | 898 |
| 2001 | 875 |
| 2002 | 849 |
| 2003 | 832 |
| 2004 | 827 |
| 2005 | 800 |
| 2006 | 800 |
| 2007 | 795 |
| 2008 | 807 |
| 2009 | 811 |
| 2010 | 814 |
| 2011 | 803 |
| 2012 | 804 |
| 2013 | 797 |
| 2014 | 799 |
| 2015 | 789 |
| 2016 | 780 |
| 2017 | 772 |
| 2018 | 762 |
| 2019 | 762 |
| 2020 | 755 |
Martha in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Martha.Hi! My name is Martha.
- Martha har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Martha has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Marthas mamma är lärare.Martha's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Marthas mamma is Martha's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Martha
How do you pronounce Martha in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Martha in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Martha mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Aramaic of biblical origin. * From Latin Martha, from Ancient Greek Μάρθα (Mártha), from Aramaic מָרְתָא (mārtā, “mistress”), feminine of מרא (mārā). Doublet of Marfa. * (humidity chamber): From the use of Martha Stewart-branded storage closets in the construction of early units.
How popular is Martha in Sweden?
7 babies were named Martha in 2022. In 2020, 755 people in Sweden had Martha as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2004 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.