Freja
A feminine name of Norse origin meaning "Lady" or "Mistress".
Name Census estimates that about 515 living Americans carry the first name Freja. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Freja today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Freja births was 2024 (49 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Freja. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Freja with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
515
~ 1 in 665,542 Americans
Peak year
2024
49 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,231
Tracked since 2000
Census
Freja in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 384 people with the first name Freja, which placed it at #24,893 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#24,893
National first-name rank
People counted
384
384 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Freja
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Freja is White at 82.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.3%) and Hispanic (7.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Freja described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Freja at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.8% · 318
- Two or more races7.3% · 28
- Hispanic or Latino7.0% · 27
- Black or African American1.0% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 3
Popularity
Freja: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Freja from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 247 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Freja remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Freja by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Freja during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Frejas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Minnesota, Washington recorded the most babies named Freja, while Washington, Minnesota, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Freja
The name Freja has its origins in Norse mythology and Old Norse language. It is derived from the name of the Norse goddess Freyja, who was associated with love, beauty, fertility, and war. The name Freyja is believed to be related to the Old Norse word "fröa" or "frōvun," which means "lady" or "mistress."
In Norse mythology, Freyja was one of the most revered deities, known for her beauty, charm, and her ability to bestow fertility and wealth. She was also associated with the afterlife and was believed to welcome half of those slain in battle to her celestial hall, Folkvangr.
The earliest recorded use of the name Freja dates back to the Viking Age, around the 8th to 11th centuries AD, when the Norse people inhabited Scandinavia and parts of northern Europe. It was a popular name among Norse women, particularly in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.
One of the earliest and most notable historical figures bearing the name Freja was Freja Eriksdotter, a Swedish noblewoman who lived in the 13th century. She was the daughter of Erik Knutsson, King of Sweden, and played a significant role in Swedish politics and diplomacy during her lifetime.
In the 16th century, Freja Bielke was a Swedish courtier and lady-in-waiting to Queen Kristina of Sweden. She was known for her influence and involvement in the political and cultural life of the Swedish court during the reign of Kristina.
Another notable figure was Freja Corinne von Cölln, a German painter and illustrator who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was renowned for her portraits and mythological paintings inspired by Norse legends and folklore.
In the 20th century, Freja Aktuell was a Swedish actress and singer who gained popularity in the 1940s and 1950s. She appeared in several films and musicals and was known for her versatile talent and captivating performances.
More recently, Freja Beha Erichsen, born in 1987, is a Danish fashion model who has graced the covers of numerous international magazines and walked the runways for prestigious fashion houses. Her unique features and striking presence have made her a renowned figure in the fashion industry.
People
Freja + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Freja as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Freja: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Freja?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 515 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Freja going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 665,542 US residents.
Is Freja a common name?
We classify Freja as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 519 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Freja most popular?
The single biggest year for Freja was 2024, when 49 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Freja is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Freja in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 384 people with the name Freja, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,893 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Freja in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Freja?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Freja appears almost entirely female. Of the 380 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Freja?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Freja is White at 82.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.3%) and Hispanic (7.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Freja most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Freja in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.8% (318 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Freja in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Freja a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Freja in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Freja still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Freja in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Freja can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Freja?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.