Vanja
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name, occasionally also given to men. From Russian Ваня (Vanja), diminutive of the male name Ива́н (Iván, “John”) and the female name Иванна (Ivanna, “Jane”).
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Vanja (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Vanja has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2009. 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 | Boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 19 | – |
| 1999 | 20 | – |
| 2000 | 19 | – |
| 2001 | 23 | – |
| 2002 | 23 | – |
| 2003 | 26 | – |
| 2004 | 26 | – |
| 2005 | 24 | – |
| 2006 | 21 | – |
| 2007 | 28 | – |
| 2008 | 26 | 2 |
| 2009 | 29 | – |
| 2010 | 26 | – |
| 2011 | 20 | – |
| 2012 | 23 | – |
| 2013 | 22 | – |
| 2014 | 26 | – |
| 2015 | 25 | – |
| 2016 | 20 | – |
| 2017 | 19 | – |
| 2018 | 11 | – |
| 2019 | 18 | – |
| 2020 | 17 | – |
| 2021 | 21 | – |
| 2022 | 26 | – |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls | Men and boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 3,440 | 35 |
| 2000 | 3,404 | 36 |
| 2001 | 3,380 | 36 |
| 2002 | 3,359 | 36 |
| 2003 | 3,334 | 37 |
| 2004 | 3,292 | 36 |
| 2005 | 3,267 | 39 |
| 2006 | 3,239 | 41 |
| 2007 | 3,203 | 41 |
| 2008 | 3,169 | 42 |
| 2009 | 3,140 | 44 |
| 2010 | 3,120 | 47 |
| 2011 | 3,079 | 47 |
| 2012 | 3,059 | 50 |
| 2013 | 3,019 | 50 |
| 2014 | 2,990 | 52 |
| 2015 | 2,963 | 58 |
| 2016 | 2,928 | 58 |
| 2017 | 2,891 | 63 |
| 2018 | 2,833 | 69 |
| 2019 | 2,789 | 72 |
| 2020 | 2,735 | 71 |
Vanja in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Vanja.Hi! My name is Vanja.
- Vanja ringde och sa att hon blir lite sen.Vanja called and said she'll be a bit late.
- Vet du om Vanja kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Vanja is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Vanjas mamma är lärare.Vanja's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Vanjas mamma is Vanja's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Vanja
How do you pronounce Vanja in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Vanja in your device's Swedish voice. J is said like the English y.
What does the name Vanja mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name, occasionally also given to men. From Russian Ваня (Vanja), diminutive of the male name Ива́н (Iván, “John”) and the female name Иванна (Ivanna, “Jane”).
How popular is Vanja in Sweden?
26 babies were named Vanja in 2022. In 2020, 2,806 people in Sweden had Vanja as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2009 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.