Name profile

Freya

A name meaning "lady".

PronunciationEnglish /ˈfɹeɪ.ə/; German /ˈfʁeɪ̯.a/
Usage languagesEnglish, German, Germanic languages, Norse Mythology
US rank (2025)#176

Meaning and history

From Old Norse Freyja meaning "lady". This is the name of a goddess associated with love, beauty, war and death in Norse mythology. She claims half of the heroes who are slain in battle and brings them to her realm of Fólkvangr. Together with her brother Freyr and father Njord, she is one of the Vanir (as opposed to the Æsir). Some scholars connect her with the goddess Frigg. This is not the usual spelling in any of the Scandinavian languages (in Sweden and Denmark it is Freja and in Norway it is Frøja ) but it is the common spelling of the goddess's name in English. In the 2000s it became popular in Britain.

Popularity over timeUS births · girls
20062006: 97 births, rank #2,031
2007: 110 births, rank #1,886
2008: 127 births, rank #1,740
2009: 125 births, rank #1,742
2010: 165 births, rank #1,392
20112011: 207 births, rank #1,173
2012: 182 births, rank #1,299
2013: 281 births, rank #910
2014: 517 births, rank #584
2015: 770 births, rank #415
20162016: 999 births, rank #329
2017: 1,078 births, rank #305
2018: 1,240 births, rank #266
2019: 1,521 births, rank #199
2020: 1,599 births, rank #178
20212021: 1,869 births, rank #152
2022: 2,183 births, rank #129
2023: 2,074 births, rank #136
2024: 1,883 births, rank #160
20252025: 1,746 births, rank #176

Freya moved from #160 to #176 for girls between 2024 and 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 2022, with 2,183 births.