Nadia
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Russian used since the twentieth century. Originally the French spelling of На́дя (Nádja), an informal Russian pet form of the virtue name Наде́жда (Nadéžda, “Nadezhda, Nadyezhda”, literally “Hope”), from наде́жда (nadéžda, “hope”), entered as a translation of the Ancient Greek word from ἐλπίς (elpís, “hope”) with the same meaning. See also Ἐλπίς (Elpís, “Elpis”).
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Nadia (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, Nadia has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2010. 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 | 28 |
| 1999 | 24 |
| 2000 | 13 |
| 2001 | 21 |
| 2002 | 21 |
| 2003 | 21 |
| 2004 | 26 |
| 2005 | 27 |
| 2006 | 30 |
| 2007 | 21 |
| 2008 | 30 |
| 2009 | 16 |
| 2010 | 43 |
| 2011 | 22 |
| 2012 | 32 |
| 2013 | 35 |
| 2014 | 21 |
| 2015 | 24 |
| 2016 | 36 |
| 2017 | 32 |
| 2018 | 20 |
| 2019 | 36 |
| 2020 | 31 |
| 2021 | 33 |
| 2022 | 29 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 1,160 |
| 2000 | 1,198 |
| 2001 | 1,234 |
| 2002 | 1,275 |
| 2003 | 1,325 |
| 2004 | 1,368 |
| 2005 | 1,409 |
| 2006 | 1,501 |
| 2007 | 1,567 |
| 2008 | 1,672 |
| 2009 | 1,745 |
| 2010 | 1,833 |
| 2011 | 1,895 |
| 2012 | 1,978 |
| 2013 | 2,068 |
| 2014 | 2,155 |
| 2015 | 2,272 |
| 2016 | 2,398 |
| 2017 | 2,514 |
| 2018 | 2,590 |
| 2019 | 2,680 |
| 2020 | 2,732 |
Nadia in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Nadia.Hi! My name is Nadia.
- Har du träffat Nadia? Hon började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Nadia? She started working here on Monday.
- Vet du om Nadia kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Nadia is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Nadias mamma är lärare.Nadia's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Nadias mamma is Nadia's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Nadia
How do you pronounce Nadia in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Nadia in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Nadia mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Russian used since the twentieth century. Originally the French spelling of На́дя (Nádja), an informal Russian pet form of the virtue name Наде́жда (Nadéžda, “Nadezhda, Nadyezhda”, literally “Hope”), from наде́жда (nadéžda, “hope”), entered as a translation of the Ancient Greek word from ἐλπίς (elpís, “hope”) with the same meaning. See also Ἐλπίς (Elpís, “Elpis”).
How popular is Nadia in Sweden?
29 babies were named Nadia in 2022. In 2020, 2,732 people in Sweden had Nadia as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2010 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.