Anya, Ania or Anja is a

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

. The names are feminine in most East European countries and unisex in several African countries.

Origins and variant forms

* Anya (Аня) is a Russian diminutive of Anna. * Ania is the spelling in Polish, which is also a diminutive of Anna. * The spelling Anja is common in Croatian, Norwegian, Danish, German, Swedish, Finnish, Dutch,

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

, Slovenian, Macedonian, Montenegrin, Bosnian, Serbian. * Anya is sometimes used as an

anglicisation Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

of the Irish name Áine * Anya is an old Kurdish name. It means "strength" or "power". * Anya is a Hungarian word for "mother". * Anya is a Nigerian Igbo name, and also a word for "eye." * Anya is a variant of the Sanskrit name Aanya, meaning "inexhaustible"

People with the given name Anya

Anya Ayoung-Chee Anya Ayoung-Chee is a Trinidadian host, fashion designer, model and beauty pageant titleholder. She was Miss Universe Trinidad and Tobago 2008 and was a contestant in the Miss Universe 2008 pageant. She was the winner of '' Project Runway''s ...

(born 1981), former Miss Trinidad and Tobago and winner of season 9 of ''Project Runway'' *

Anya Chalotra Anya Chalotra (born ) is an English actress. She began her career in a 2017 production of the play '' Much Ado About Nothing'' at Shakespeare's Globe, and made her screen debut with BBC dramas '' Wanderlust'' and '' The ABC Murders'' in 2018. Sh ...

, British actress *

Anya Corke Anya Sun Corke (born 12 September 1990 in California, USA) is an American-born English chess player holding the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She played for Hong Kong, where she was the top ranked chess player, until 2009. Career Corke e ...

(born 1990), grandmaster and the top female chess player in Hong Kong *

Anya Gallaccio Anya Gallaccio (born 1963) is a Scottish artist, who creates site-specific, minimalist installations and often works with organic matter (including chocolate, sugar, flowers and ice). Her use of organic materials results in natural processe ...

(born 1963), Scottish artist *

Anya Garnis Anna "Anya" Garnis ( Russian: Анна "Аня" Гарнис; born May 26, 1982) is a Latvian ballroom dancer based in New York City. In 2007 she was a contestant on the American reality television show '' So You Think You Can Dance.'' In 200 ...

(born 1982), Siberian ballroom and Latin dancer *

Anya Geraldine Nur Amalina Hayati (born 15 December 1995), known as Anya Geraldine, is an Indonesian actress, internet celebrity, and model. Her career in entertainment began in 2016 as an internet celebrity and model. Anya Geraldine made her acting debut in ...

(born 1995), Indonesian actress and model * Anja Haga (born 1968), Dutch politician * Anya Hindmarch (born 1968), British fashion designer * Anya Kamenetz (born 1980), American writer and journalist * Anya Lahiri (born 1982), English singer * Anya Major (born 1966), British athlete, actress, model and singer * Anya Marina (born 1976), American singer-songwriter * Anya Monzikova (born 1984), Russian-American model and actress * Anya Schiffrin (born 1962), American journalist and writer, international business professor at Columbia University * Anya Seton (1904–1990), American author of historical romances * Anya Shrubsole (born 1991), English cricketer * Anya Singh (born 1992), Indian actress * Anya Taranda (1915–1970), American model *

Anya Taylor-Joy Anya-Josephine Marie Taylor-Joy (; born 16 April 1996) is an actress. Born in Miami and raised in Buenos Aires and London, she left school at the age of 16 to pursue an acting career. After a series of small television roles, her Breakthrough ...

(born 1996), actress * Anya Teixeira (1913–1992), Ukrainian-born British street photographer * A'nya, Russo-Japanese talent Anna Murashige's nickname

People with the given name Anja

* Anja Althaus (born 1982), German handball player * Anja Andersen (born 1969), Danish handball player * Anja Barugh (born 1999), New Zealand freestyle skier * Anja Blacha (born 1990), German mountaineer * Anja Daems (born 1968), Belgian television and radio presenter * Anja Garbarek (born 1970), Norwegian musician * Anja Hammerseng-Edin (born 1983), Norwegian handball player * Anja Hazekamp (born 1968), Dutch politician *

Anja Pärson Anja Sofia Tess Pärson (; born 25 April 1981) is a Swedish former alpine skier. She is an Olympic gold medalist, seven-time gold medalist at the World Championships, and two-time overall Alpine Skiing World Cup champion. This included winn ...

(born 1981), Swedish alpine skier * Anja Plaschg (born 1990), alias Soap&Skin, Austrian musician * Anja Ringgren Lovén (born 1978), Danish charity worker * Anja Rubik (born 1983), Polish fashion model * Anja Sodnikar (born 2003), Austrian singer-songwriter * Anja Spasojević (born 1983), Serbian professional volleyball player * Anja Strømme, ionospheric physicist * Anja Vanrobaeys (born 1968), Belgian politician

People with the given name Ania

* Ania (singer) (born 1981), Polish singer and composer * Ania Marson, Polish actress * Ania Said Chaurembo, Tanzanian politician * Ania Walwicz (1951–2020), Australian poet and prose writer * Ania Wiśniewska (born 1977), Polish singer

Fictional characters

* Aanya, the Queen of Duren from The Dragon Prince * Anya, daughter of the Marvel Comics character

Magneto A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...

* Anya, or Princess Ann, a character in the film '' Roman Holiday'' *

Anya Anya, Ania or Anja is a given name. The names are feminine in most East European countries and unisex in several African countries. Origins and variant forms * Anya (Аня) is a Russian diminutive of Anna. * Ania is the spelling in Polish ...

, or Princess Anastasia, protagonist of the 1997 film ''

Anastasia Anastasia (from ) is a feminine given name of Greek and Slavic origin, derived from the Greek word (), meaning "resurrection". It is a popular name in Eastern Europe. Origin The name Anastasia originated during the Early Christianity, early d ...

'' * Anya, in the video game '' Diablo II: Lord of Destruction'' * Anya, in the video game '' Mouthwashing'' * Anya, in the video game '' Project I.G.I.'' *

, in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' * Anastasia "Anya" Yurievna Cocolova, in the manga series ''Negima! Magister Negi Magi''as * Anya, in the television series '' The 100'' * Anya Alstreim, in the anime series ''Code Geass'' * Anya Amasova, in the film ''The Spy Who Loved Me'' * Anya Borzakovskaya, in the graphic novel '' Anya's Ghost'' * Anya Claus, in the film '' Santa Claus: The Movie'' * Anya Corazon, in Marvel Comics * Anya Forger, in the manga and anime series ''

Spy × Family ''Spy × Family'' (stylized as ''SPY×FAMILY'' and pronounced "spy family") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuya Endo. The story follows Loid Forger, an enigmatic spy who has to "build a family" to execute a missio ...

'' * Anya Hepburn, in the manga series ''Soul Eater Not!'' *

Anya Jenkins Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins (born as Aud) is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. Portrayed by Emma Caulfield, she appears as a recurring guest in the third and fourth seasons ...

, in the television series ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. The concept is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film, also written by Whedon, a ...

'' * Anya MacPherson, in the television series ''Degrassi: The Next Generation'' * Anya Oliwa, in the video game '' Wolfenstein: The New Order'' * Anya Stroud, in the video game series ''

Gears of War ''Gears of War'' (also referred to as ''Gears'') is a media franchise centered on a series of video games created by Epic Games, developed and managed by The Coalition (company), The Coalition, and owned and published by Xbox Game Studios. The ...

'' * Ania Williams, in the soap opera ''Family Affairs'' * Anya Beletskaya, in the

VOCALOID is a singing Speech synthesis, voice synthesizer software product. Its signal processing part was developed through a joint research project between Yamaha Corporation and the Music Technology Group at Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona. The s ...

song series ''Parties are for Losers'' * Anastasia "Anya", a character in the video game ''The Idolmaster: Cinderella''

People with the surname Anya

* Ikechi Anya (born 1988), Scottish footballer

References

{{given name, type=both Slavic feminine given names Serbian feminine given names Feminine given names