Pronunciation RON-ya Related names | Gender female | |
Ronja is a feminine given name in use largely in Scandinavian countries. It was created by the Swedish author Astrid Lindgren for her 1981 children's book Ronja Rövardotter. Ronja is also a Russian pet form of Veronika, but very few people were given this name in Scandinavian countries prior to 1981.
It was the third most popular name given to baby girls born in the Faroe Islands in 2008 and is also rising in popularity in other Scandinavian countries. The English translation of the name is Ronia.
The first living person in Sweden to be given the name 'Ronja' was Ronja Hellqvist (now Ronja Rees) from Stockholm, born in 1985. Orininally, Ronja Hellqvist was due to have a different name however, she created such a fuss at birth that the midwife commented 'that's a little Ronja you have there!' and her mother duly agreed.