Freya

Spellings & scripts●

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 7 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◐

Freya is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name11K records spelled Freya7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Spain, United States, Argentina

  Languages: Spanish, French, Portuguese

  Also written Fřęýą, Frèya, Fréya

• Indonesian given name856 records spelled Freya3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Philippines, United States, United Kingdom

  Also written Frèya, Fréya

• Croatian given name120 records spelled Freya9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Croatia, United Kingdom, United States

  Languages: Croatian, Bulgarian, Serbian

  Also written Фрея, Frea

44 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●

Freya 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.

• Scottish: of Old Norse origin. Freya or Fréja was the goddess of love in Scandinavian mythology, and her name is most probably derived from a word related to Old High German frouwa ‘lady’, ‘mistress’ (German Frau). The name has for long been a traditional one in Shetland, and it is still used in Scotland. A notable modern bearer was the explorer and writer Freya Stark.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In French, Origine scandinave; prénom issu de la mythologie scandinave.

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• Goddess of love.

  as a name·The African book of names

• Diosa del amor

  as a name·25,000 nombres de bebé. La mejor guía para escoger el nombre adecuado

• Scottish: of Old Norse origin. Freya or Fröja was the goddess of love in Scandinavian mythology, and her name seems to be derived from an element cognate with Old High German frouwa lady, mistress. The name was long a traditional one in Shetland, and is still used in Scotland. A notable modern bearer is the explorer and writer Freya Stark. Cognate: Swedish: Freja .

  as a word

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) — 82 years between 1931–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Freya Starkb. 1893GBBritish travel writer (1893-1993)
• Freya von Moltkeb. 1911DEGerman writer and scholar (1911–2010)
• Isa Dick Hackettb. 1967USnot in their usual nameAmerican producer and writer for Amazon (born 1967)
• Liz Garbusb. 1970USnot in their usual nameAmerican film director and producer
• Freya Staffordb. 1977AUAustralian actress (born 1977)
• Freya Mavorb. 1993GBScottish actress
• Freya Tingleyb. 1994AUAustralian actress
• Freya Ridingsb. 1994GBEnglish singer, pianist and songwriter
• Freya Allanb. 2001GBEnglish actress
• Freya Andersonb. 2001GBBritish swimmer

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 · 880 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Freya?

We estimate roughly 36 thousand people bear Freya (counting its spellings and scripts) across 13 countries in our records.

In which country does Freya have the most bearers?

Freya is most frequently recorded in Australia, where it is most often spelled freya.

Where is Freya most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Freya is densest in Iceland — about 1 in 352 people — even though Australia holds more of our records for it.

How common is Freya compared with other names?

In Australia, Freya is the 716th most common given name of 197,734 given names recorded there.

Is Freya a male or female name?

Freya 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 Freya mean?

Recorded meaning: From Old Norse Freyja, name of the Norse goddess, ‘lady’.