Asa

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Asha in IN India, FR France, BD Bangladesh and 5 more, Usha in GB United Kingdom, MY Malaysia, AU Australia and 3 more, Usa in US United States, TZ Tanzania, VE Venezuela and อุษา in TH Thailand.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 13 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Asa is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name79K records spelled Asa15 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, India, Sweden

  Languages: English, German, Western Frisian

  Also written As'A, Aşa, Ása, A'Sa, Àsà

• Turkish given name7.1K records spelled Asa9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, Türkiye, United States, Tanzania

  Languages: Turkish, Azerbaijani

  Also written Asha, Aşha, Åsa, Åshå, Ãsha

• Icelandic given name6.6K records spelled Asa12 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Iceland, Norway, United States, Sweden

  Languages: Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, Swedish

  Also written Ása, Åsa, Asy, Ãsa, Aså

• a separate given name4.0K records spelled Asa17 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, Sweden, Norway

  Also written Åsa, Âsa, Āśā, Asâ, Aša

• French given name2.1K records spelled Asa17 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Sweden, India

  Also written Åsa, Asã, Âşă, Ašä, Aşa

56 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Asa is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• The Hebrew name Asa is of uncertain origin, but it is often suggested to mean "healer" or "physician".

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• Uncertain, possibly meaning 'healer' or 'physician' (Aramaic), or 'created' (Hebrew).

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• Asa represents a righteous reformer who restored the covenant but serves as a cautionary tale about the failure to rely on God in times of personal crisis and old age.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• A biblical name implying healing or creation, historically associated with a righteous king of Judah.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• Biblical name, borne by one of the early kings of Judah, who reigned for forty years, as recorded in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles. It was originally a byname meaning ‘doctor’, ‘healer’ in Hebrew, and is still a common Jewish name. It was first used among English-speaking _

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Asa Grayb. 1810USAmerican botanist (1810–1888)
• Asa Griggs Candlerb. 1851USAmerican mayor and businessman (1851-1929)
• Al Jolsonb. 1886USnot in their usual nameAmerican entertainer, actor, and singer (1886–1950)
• Asa Philip Randolphb. 1889USBlack American civil rights activist, labor unionist, politician (1889-1979)
• Asa Briggsb. 1921GBEnglish historian (1921-2016)
• Asa Hutchinsonb. 1950USGovernor of Arkansas from 2015 to 2023
• Stina Ekbladb. 1954FInot in their usual nameFinnish-Swedish actress
• Åsa Romsonb. 1972SESwedish politician
• Asa Akirab. 1985USAmerican pornographic actress
• Asa Butterfieldb. 1997GBEnglish actor

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 581 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Asa?

We estimate roughly 56 thousand people bear Asa (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does Asa have the most bearers?

Asa is most frequently recorded in India, where it is most often spelled asha.

Where is Asa most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Asa is densest in Sweden — about 1 in 275 people — even though India holds more of our records for it.

How common is Asa compared with other names?

In India, Asa is the 14th most common given name of 4,777,337 given names recorded there.

Is Asa a male or female name?

Asa is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Asa mean?

Recorded meaning: Asa is a short and strong biblical name of Hebrew origin, meaning "healer".