Given name & surname
Sanja
Sanja is a feminine given name. It is used in Serbo-Croatian.
Meaning & origin
A reliable meaning for Sanja isn’t established in our sources yet. Rather than guess, we show what is recorded: how the name is used, how often, and the names it’s connected to.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1961. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Sanja through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 123
- 0 boys · 123 girls
- Most popular year
- 1966
- 13 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 5 in 2010. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for girls was 13 in 1966. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,159 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Sanja’s family of names
In Danish usage, Sanja has a conventional equivalent in the Polish form Sonia. In German usage, Sanja has a related form in Sanya. In Macedonian usage, Sanja is a Roman-alphabet rendering of Сања.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Sanja has relatives in 3 languages.
3 related names in 3 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 4
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Sanja
- Sanja Vučićpop singerborn 1993
- Sanja DoležalCroatian pop singer and television hostborn 1963
- Sanja IvekovićCroatian visual artist, designer and activist (born 1949)
- Sanja JovanovićCroatian swimmerborn 1986
- Sanja VujovićSerbian female handballerborn 1987
- Sanja StarovićSerbian volleyball playerborn 1983
- Sanja MalagurskiSerbian volleyball playerborn 1990
- Sanja PopovićFemale volleyball player from Croatiaborn 1984
- Sanja OžegovićOlympic medalist in basketballborn 1959
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Sanja, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Sarita
“princess”
>99% girls
Sonya
“having great wisdom and foresight” · “wisdom”
>99% girls
Sandy
“helper and defender of mankind” · “from the sandy crossing”
13% boys · 87% girls
Suzette
“resembling a graceful white lily”
>99% girls
Zina
“A secret spirit” · “welcoming”
>99% girls
Rhonda
“wielding a good spear”
>99% girls
Suzy
“resembling a graceful white lily”
>99% girls
Gretta
“resembling a pearl”
>99% girls