Anja is of Scandinavian origin, meaning 'grace'. It's a short form of various Scandinavian female names beginning with the element 'An', such as Anna, Annelise, and Ane. The name gained popularity in the late 20th century and has since been used widely throughout Europe.
The name Anja experienced significant popularity fluctuations over time, with a noticeable peak occurring between the late 1990s and early 2000s. During this period (1996-2004), there were consistently high numbers of births each year, reaching an all-time high of 122 in 2006. However, since then, the popularity of Anja has been on a general decline, with recent years (2020-2023) showing birth numbers below 50. Overall, the name Anja has seen approximately 2713 births over the course of these statistics from 1962 to 2023.