Tanja

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 12 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◐

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

• Finnish given name55K records spelled Tanja3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, Sweden, United States, Netherlands

  Languages: Finnish, Estonian

  Also written Tànja

• Hungarian given name16K records spelled Tanja2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Slovenia, Hungary, Switzerland, Serbia

  Also written Tánja

• a separate given name4.8K records spelled Tanja2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Slovenia

  Also written Tânja

51 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●

Tanja 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.

• In German, ) Tania; Tanya: aus dem Russi­ schen übernommener weibl. Vom., Kose­ form von

  as a name·DUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen

• In Swedish, Tanja är från början ett ryskt namn, ursprungligen en smekform till → Tatiana. I den rikssvenska almanackan 8 april och i den finlandssvenska 13 oktober.

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• In Danish, a female given name from Russian, popular in the 1970s and the 1980s, equivalent to English Tania

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Swedish, a female given name of mostly 1970s and 1980s usage, equivalent to English Tania

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Portuguese, the fruit from the hybrid of a mandarin tree with an orange or grapefruit tree

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

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) — 57 years between 1943–2007. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Tanja Jessb. 1967DEDutch actor, television presenter, presenter and television actor
• Tanja Ribičb. 1968SISlovene actress and singer
• Tanja Karpelab. 1970FIFinnish politician
• Tanja Fajonb. 1971SISlovenian politician
• Michelleb. 1972DEnot in their usual nameGerman schlager singer
• Tanja Schleiffb. 1973DEGerman actress
• Tanja Friedenb. 1976CHsnowboarder
• Tanja Szewczenkob. 1977DEGerman figure skater
• Tanja Reichertb. 1980CACanadian actress
• Tanja Žagarb. 1982SISlovenian singer

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 · 559 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Tanja?

We estimate roughly 41 thousand people bear Tanja (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Tanja have the most bearers?

Tanja is most frequently recorded in Germany, where it is most often spelled tanja.

Where is Tanja most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Tanja is densest in Slovenia — about 1 in 269 people — even though Germany holds more of our records for it.

How common is Tanja compared with other names?

In Germany, Tanja is the 106th most common given name of 154,506 given names recorded there.

Is Tanja a male or female name?

Tanja 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 Tanja mean?

Recorded meaning: a female given name, popular popular especially in the 1970s and 1980s