Freya Name Meaning, Origin, Popularity, Girl Names Like Freya

Freya Name Origin: Scandinavian
Pronunciation: fray-ah
See what 18 people think about Freya

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Freya Name Meaning

The name Freya means “lady” in Old Norse, and is often associated with beauty, love, and fertility. It is a strong and powerful name, with a sense of leadership and courage. As the goddess of love and fertility, Freya is also associated with passion and sensuality, making it a perfect name for a girl who is sure to be a force to be reckoned with.

History of the Name Freya

The name Freya has its origins in Norse mythology. Freya is the goddess of love, fertility, and war in Norse mythology. She is the daughter of Njord, the god of the sea, and the sister of Frey, the god of fertility. She is often depicted as a beautiful and powerful woman, riding in a chariot pulled by cats.

In the Viking Age, Freya was one of the most popular and widely worshiped goddesses in Norse mythology. Her name has been found in many place names, such as Freyja in Norway, and Freyja in Sweden.

Popularity of the Name Freya

The name Freya started to gain popularity as a given name in the 19th century, but it wasn’t until the late 20th century that it became widely used. In the United States, the name Freya first appeared on the Social Security Administration’s list of most popular baby names in the year 2000 and has been increasing in popularity since.

Famous Freyas

In recent years, the name Freya has been used by a number of celebrities for their children, including actor Jason Isaacs and his wife, Emma Hewitt, who named their daughter Freya. Additionally, the name has been used in literature, such as the character Freya Beauchamp in the TV show “Witches of East End”

Final Thoughts on the Name Freya

The name Freya has a rich history and meaning that goes far beyond its origins in Norse mythology. It is a strong and powerful name, associated with beauty, love, and fertility. With its growing popularity, there’s no doubt that the name Freya will continue to be a favorite among parents for years to come. So, whether you’re naming your baby girl Freya, you can be sure that she’ll be a goddess in her own right!

Freya Name Popularity

How popular is the name Freya? Here’s everything we know.

Year	Rank	# Births	% Births
1910	—	0	0%
1911	—	0	0%
1912	—	0	0%
1913	—	0	0%
1914	—	0	0%
1915	—	0	0%
1916	—	0	0%
1917	—	0	0%
1918	—	0	0%
1919	—	0	0%
1920	—	0	0%
1921	—	0	0%
1922	—	0	0%
1923	—	0	0%
1924	—	0	0%
1925	—	0	0%
1926	—	0	0%
1927	—	0	0%
1928	—	0	0%
1929	—	0	0%
1930	—	0	0%
1931	—	0	0%
1932	—	0	0%
1933	—	0	0%
1934	—	0	0%
1935	—	0	0%
1936	—	0	0%
1937	—	0	0%
1938	—	0	0%
1939	—	0	0%
1940	1,240	11	0.001%
1941	1,307	9	0.0008%
1942	1,729	5	0.0004%
1943	—	0	0%
1944	—	0	0%
1945	—	0	0%
1946	—	0	0%
1947	—	0	0%
1948	—	0	0%
1949	—	0	0%
1950	—	0	0%
1951	—	0	0%
1952	—	0	0%
1953	—	0	0%
1954	—	0	0%
1955	—	0	0%
1956	—	0	0%
1957	—	0	0%
1958	—	0	0%
1959	—	0	0%
1960	—	0	0%
1961	—	0	0%
1962	—	0	0%
1963	—	0	0%
1964	—	0	0%
1965	—	0	0%
1966	—	0	0%
1967	—	0	0%
1968	2,026	7	0.0005%
1969	—	0	0%
1970	—	0	0%
1971	—	0	0%
1972	2,495	5	0.0004%
1973	—	0	0%
1974	—	0	0%
1975	—	0	0%
1976	—	0	0%
1977	—	0	0%
1978	—	0	0%
1979	—	0	0%
1980	—	0	0%
1981	2,694	6	0.0004%
1982	—	0	0%
1983	—	0	0%
1984	—	0	0%
1985	—	0	0%
1986	—	0	0%
1987	—	0	0%
1988	—	0	0%
1989	—	0	0%
1990	—	0	0%
1991	3,166	7	0.0004%
1992	3,115	7	0.0004%
1993	—	0	0%
1994	—	0	0%
1995	—	0	0%
1996	—	0	0%
1997	3,717	5	0.0003%
1998	—	0	0%
1999	—	0	0%
2000	3,276	7	0.0005%
2001	2,355	22	0.0015%
2002	2,731	14	0.0009%
2003	2,720	15	0.001%
2004	2,617	17	0.0011%
2005	2,314	26	0.0017%
2006	2,386	26	0.0017%
2007	1,914	47	0.003%
2008	1,638	72	0.0047%
2009	1,705	63	0.0042%
2010	1,275	119	0.0083%
2011	1,114	154	0.0108%
2012	1,213	126	0.0088%
2013	920	211	0.0148%
2014	559	487	0.0334%
2015	410	728	0.05%
2016	312	982	0.0681%
2017	290	1,056	0.0757%
2018	259	1,207	0.0879%
2019	193	1,501	0.1109%
2020	183	1,514	0.1189%
2021	151	1,730	0.1415%

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Delaware (DE)

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Massachusetts (MA)

Maryland (MD)

Maine (ME)

Michigan (MI)

Minnesota (MN)

Missouri (MO)

Mississippi (MS)

Montana (MT)

North Carolina (NC)

North Dakota (ND)

Nebraska (NE)

New Hampshire (NH)

New Jersey (NJ)

New Mexico (NM)

Nevada (NV)

New York (NY)

Ohio (OH)

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Data via SSA.gov.

Names Like Freya

If you like Freya, you’ll love these other names like Freya.

What names are variants of Freya?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name Freya.

Name	Meaning	Origin	Popularity	Other Gender
Fraya	Noble lady	Scandinavian

What names sound like Freya?

If you like how Freya sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Freya.

Name	Meaning	Origin
Fara	Good-looking	English
Farra	Good-looking	English
Fiora		Gaelic
Varya
Veera	Faith; truth; true image	Slavic
Vera	Truth and faith	Latin

Lists With Freya

Find inspiration in these baby girl name lists featuring the name Freya.

Siblings of Freya

Mamas with kids named Freya also have kids with these names.

Name	Meaning	Origin
Kerrigan	Black	Irish
Agnes	Pure, holy	Greek
Jewel	Plaything, delight	French
Willow	Willow tree	English
Adrien	From Hadria	Latin
Damien	To tame	French
Persephone	Bringer of destruction	Greek

Sebastien	Revered	Greek
Phoenix	Dark red	Greek
Leverett	Young Hare	French
Iris	Rainbow	Greek
Rowan	Of the rowan tree	Gaelic
Wyatt	Brave in battle	English
Briar	Shrub, Small Tree	English
Rose	Rose flower	English
Sage	Healing herb	Latin

Share Your Thoughts

18 Comments

Honorée Jan 3 at 4:50 pm

I love what a strong name it is. Freya is the Norse goddess of love, fertility, and battle! I also wanted her to have a unique name that I pairs well with her brother Laszlo.

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karissa Dec 13 at 1:07 pm

At least in the United States, it’s unique. I like that it’s short but can still have nicknames.

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Jennifer Nicholson Oct 31 at 11:21 am

I love old fashioned and unique names! The name Freya is more than old fashioned, it’s ancient. Most people won’t realize that I’ve named my daughter after a Norse Goddess, lol. It also means noble woman. It’s a very strong, beautiful and unique name and it fits my baby girl perfectly.

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Adina Jul 20 at 3:14 pm

She picked it!

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Andrea White Jun 18 at 8:12 am

Strong female name! Reminds me of witches.

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Adina Feb 15 at 11:39 am

Embodied her strong, feminine, clear energy.

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Ashlea Dec 10 at 8:18 am

Freyja is the godess of love and fertility in the norse mythology. It is a Norwegian/ viking name. We just spelled it a little different then what they did back then. We like the name because it is unique and I just love unique names. I am a red head and dad is brown haired, so we are having a little “war” on wat her hair will come out more when it grows.

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Shikha Dec 6 at 4:56 am

Its ourcultural rituals to select name aftdr birth date n time and according to Indian calender,we choose name. I love the meaning of name freya

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Katelyn Mar 24 at 12:35 pm

My husband and I are both Norwegian and we liked the idea of a Norwegian name. It derives from a Norse name meaning “noble woman.” We liked that it was a strong sounding name yet still feminine. We also don’t know anyone with that name, so no negative associations lol. The mythology behind the norse goddess is a little crazy but we’ll let her figure that out when she’s old enough haha! That’s the only thing we don’t like about it, but we sure got a good laugh when we read into it. That and how people often mis-hear it! F’s are apparently difficult to say and hear.

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Olivia Nov 13 at 2:47 am

This is a beautiful strong name! I love the sound of the name and Freya is the goddess of love and beauty. Also this name is familiar but an overly used name.

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Desiree Sep 7 at 9:25 am

We wanted something different as a name. We both scoured the Internet for baby names. Then, we looked up names from Norse mythology, since we we are both interested in that. We came upon the name Freya, a norse goddess of love. It sounded and felt just right for our little one.

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Megan Sep 25 at 8:23 pm

I love mythology so it was a good fit.

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Nicole Loveless Aug 16 at 9:43 am

Freya is the Nordic GODDESS of love war and fertility! It’s a STRONG name. She was known to ride her chariot with 2 cats pulling her! I chose a strong name for my girl!

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Britanie Aug 13 at 7:30 pm

We had our son in 2015 and my husband named him, we decided ihat I would get to name our daughter if we ever had a second child. We had our daughter April 6 2019, and I’ve always loved the name Freya and our daughter just fits the name so well so we agreed and named her Freya

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Shannon Aug 12 at 8:40 pm

My husband chose Freya. I love the name, it’s simple and uncommon but people often misunderstand when I tell them (hearing Ray-ah or Greta) or they mispronounce, saying Free-ah.

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Trista Jul 26 at 12:01 pm

I wanted a strong but beautiful name for our daughter. I loved that you don’t here it often either.

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Alanna Jun 20 at 1:08 pm

Wanted a Scandinavian name to follow our heritage

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Elisabeth Apr 13 at 12:00 pm

We wanted a strong female name that wasn’t common where we live (the US), that wasn’t hard for little hands to write, that wasn’t hard to pronounce, and we wanted it to have strong meaning. Our options came down to Tesla (Tess for short) and Freya (Fey for short). A name is the second gift we give our child, after their life, so we wanted it to be something she could be proud of, not a burden, not something that would just be another painfully common name.

I love her name. It’s one of my favorite Goddesses (we dropped the j from Freyja so people would pronounce it correctly), it’s equally feminine and strong, like our girl.

My only warning is that if you name your daughter after a strong, bold woman, they will very likely live up to the name.

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