# Althea (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/althea/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Greek |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ælˈθi.ə/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 17,985 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 5 / 17,980 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 347, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Althaia or Althaea of Greek mythology, from Ancient Greek Ἀλθαία (Althaía).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 72 | 2,511 |
| 2012 | 73 | 2,497 |
| 2013 | 101 | 1,955 |
| 2014 | 92 | 2,098 |
| 2015 | 130 | 1,644 |
| 2016 | 128 | 1,668 |
| 2017 | 154 | 1,460 |
| 2018 | 162 | 1,386 |
| 2019 | 167 | 1,355 |
| 2020 | 156 | 1,399 |
| 2021 | 145 | 1,476 |
| 2022 | 175 | 1,343 |
| 2023 | 167 | 1,348 |
| 2024 | 160 | 1,398 |
| 2025 | 171 | 1,299 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1924 | 5 | 4,366 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 9 | 2,636 |
| 2012 | 8 | 2,969 |
| 2013 | 8 | 2,887 |
| 2014 | 17 | 1,702 |
| 2015 | 21 | 1,497 |
| 2016 | 17 | 1,749 |
| 2017 | 13 | 2,090 |
| 2018 | 18 | 1,649 |
| 2019 | 23 | 1,349 |
| 2020 | 16 | 1,773 |
| 2021 | 30 | 1,128 |
| 2022 | 16 | 1,767 |
| 2023 | 20 | 1,525 |
| 2024 | 22 | 1,449 |
| 2025 | 23 | 1,362 |

## People named Althea

- Althea Gibson, American tennis player (1927-2003)
- Althéa Laurin, French taekwondoin
- Althea Reinhardt, Danish handball player
- Althea Sherman, American ornithologist, artist and educator (1853–1943)
- Kim Gordon, American musician and artist, most known as co-founding member of Sonic Youth (born 1953)
- Louise Brough, American tennis player (1923–2014)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.