| Freya | Astrid | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Lady, noblewoman | Divinely beautiful |
| Origin | Norse | norse |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | FRAY-uh | AS-trid |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1931 | 1892 |
| Peak year | 2022 (2,183) | 2024 (822) |
| In 2025 | 1,746 | 818 |
| Trend | Rising | Near its peak |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Freya | Astrid |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 11,354 | 4,578 |
| 2010s | 6,960 | 3,352 |
| 2000s | 772 | 2,050 |
| 1990s | 180 | 1,499 |
| 1980s | 121 | 575 |
| 1970s | 131 | 347 |
| 1960s | 54 | 337 |
| 1950s | 70 | 170 |
| 1940s | 166 | 142 |
| 1930s | 13 | 244 |
| 1920s | 0 | 247 |
| 1910s | 0 | 426 |
| 1900s | 0 | 132 |
| 1890s | 0 | 46 |
From the Old Norse, “lady” or “noblewoman.” Freya is the Norse goddess of love and beauty.
From Old Norse Ástríðr, from áss 'god' + fríðr 'beautiful, fair, beloved'. Here 'fríðr' genuinely means 'beautiful/fair' (not merely light-colored), giving the standard gloss 'divinely beautiful'. Old Germanic dithematic names resist a single tidy translation, but the beauty element is well attested.
Freya is more popular than Astrid today: about 1,746 US babies were given the name Freya in 2025, compared with 818 named Astrid.
Freya means Lady, noblewoman (Norse origin), while Astrid means Divinely beautiful (norse origin).
In US records, Freya first appears in 1931 and Astrid in 1892, so Astrid has the longer recorded history.