See the results of this poll: How strong is the goddess association?
Respondents: 61 (This poll is closed)
- Very strong : 14 (23%)
- Moderately strong : 8 (13%)
- It’s there, but not that strong : 20 (33%)
- It wouldn’t have crossed my mind: 19 (31%)
I wouldn’t worry about the goddess association that much. Most Americans don’t know more Norse mythology than they see in the [name_f]Marvel[/name_f] movies. If you Google the meaning of it, it comes up as Lady, or [name_m]Noble[/name_m] woman. I love the name, and think it is completely usable.
The goddess is the first thing I think of when I see Freyja (but I love mythology & that is the accepted “proper” spelling of the goddess’ name). Perhaps [name_f]Freya[/name_f] lessens the association somewhat, for other people - but it is still very strong for me. The goddess is a pretty fantastic namesake though, so I don’t find that association to be a negative.
UK here - very popular name [name_f]Freya[/name_f] (21st) more so than the traditional Freyja (563rd). We don’t get taught any mythology in state schooling, so unless it’s something you have a particular interest in, or google I doubt the majority of people would be aware of the goddess connection.
Brazilian girl talking:
I know Freyja is a Nordic goddess, but I’m not certainly of what (Wikipedia says “love, sexuality, beauty, fertility, gold, seiðr, war, and death”. Fertility and death??? )
And I only know this, 'cause I’m somewhat interested in mythology.
Personally, it’s very strong - so I voted for that to count for that demographic. But to the general public, not so much. Unless it’s something that is taught in school, by parents or someone has an interest in mythology the name is virtually unknown.
It’s only strong because I.love.mythology
Thanks for the responses so far - they are very helpful!
I’ve only heard her called the goddess of love and war, not sex?
She was a fertility goddess I’d say…
My American [name_m]Friend[/name_m] and I are both [name_m]Christian[/name_m] Theologians (I live in Australia). When a different [name_m]Friend[/name_m] of mine Named her Daughter [name_f]Freya[/name_f] we both thought “what an AWESOME Name!” I did my usual research and discovered the whole Norse goddess thing and reluctantly took it off my List of possible [name_u]Future[/name_u] Daughter’s Names, but even after I shared my research with my American [name_m]Friend[/name_m] she still has [name_f]Freya[/name_f]/Freyja/[name_f]Freja[/name_f] at the top of her List, so everyone reacts differently! 
I adore Freyja, and obviously, due to that, I’ve read a lot about the Norse goddess and therefore the association’s pretty strong for me (but I like the association myself, so…) I think unless one has a fairly good interest and knowledge of mythology, the association’s not going to be too strong. I think the [name_f]Freya[/name_f] spelling is far more common and accepted, however, for me, I very much prefer the ‘original’.
I named my cat Freyja a decade or so ago, in part as a tribute to the goddess - she’d recently had kittens that had been taken away from her and she seemed so womanly compared to the two little boy kittens we adopted at the same time. She eventually became just [name_f]Freya[/name_f] as it was less confusing. But for me, it’s a positive association.
It seems that there’s a growing trend of popularity with Norse mythology and the Vikings at the moment, so possibly more people would be aware than you might expect. So I guess you should be comfortable with the association if you were going to use it.