# Rhea (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/rhea/  
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 | “ground”, “earth”, “to flow”, “stream” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɹiː.ə/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 20,145 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 408 / 19,737 (98% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 2,895, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Internationalism. Learned borrowing from Latin Rhea, from Ancient Greek Ῥέα (Rhéa). The origin of the Ancient Greek name is disputed. Suggested explanations connect it with ἔρα (éra, “ground, earth”) or ῥέω (rhéō, “to flow, stream”), while a Pre-Greek or Minoan origin has also been proposed. The moon of Saturn was discovered by Italian-French astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini in 1672. Its present name, after the mythological Rhea, was proposed by John Herschel in 1847 as part of his naming scheme for Saturn's moons. The asteroid 577 Rhea is likewise named after the mythological Rhea. Compare German Rhea, Finnish Rhea, French Rhéa, Spanish Rea, Italian Rea and English Rhea.

## What it means

Rhea is grouped under earth and water.

## 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 | 202 | 1,193 |
| 2012 | 225 | 1,103 |
| 2013 | 219 | 1,115 |
| 2014 | 233 | 1,099 |
| 2015 | 271 | 996 |
| 2016 | 289 | 948 |
| 2017 | 318 | 863 |
| 2018 | 360 | 757 |
| 2019 | 411 | 705 |
| 2020 | 464 | 625 |
| 2021 | 485 | 615 |
| 2022 | 500 | 601 |
| 2023 | 577 | 527 |
| 2024 | 487 | 614 |
| 2025 | 452 | 639 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1949 | 7 | 3,244 |
| 1950 | 9 | 2,731 |
| 1951 | 8 | 3,020 |
| 1952 | 8 | 3,055 |
| 1953 | 7 | 3,370 |
| 1955 | 5 | 4,286 |
| 1956 | 8 | 3,150 |
| 1957 | 6 | 3,896 |
| 1960 | 7 | 3,592 |
| 1962 | 6 | 3,948 |
| 1964 | 6 | 3,949 |
| 1966 | 6 | 3,856 |
| 1975 | 5 | 6,135 |
| 1976 | 6 | 5,463 |
| 2004 | 5 | 12,821 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 89 | 480 |
| 2012 | 80 | 529 |
| 2013 | 86 | 492 |
| 2014 | 78 | 541 |
| 2015 | 75 | 570 |
| 2016 | 89 | 485 |
| 2017 | 81 | 533 |
| 2018 | 79 | 532 |
| 2019 | 80 | 510 |
| 2020 | 85 | 472 |
| 2021 | 109 | 407 |
| 2022 | 84 | 486 |
| 2023 | 82 | 485 |
| 2024 | 87 | 473 |
| 2025 | 109 | 388 |

## In other languages

- Armenian: Հռեա
- Bulgarian: Рея
- Chinese: 瑞亞 /瑞亚, 雷亞 /雷亚
- Danish: Rhea
- Finnish: Rhea
- French: Rhéa
- Georgian: რეა
- Greek: Ρέα
- Japanese: レア
- Korean: 레아
- Latvian: Reja
- Lithuanian: Rėja
- Norwegian: Rhea
- Polish: Rea, Reja
- Portuguese: Reia
- Russian: Ре́я

## People named Rhea

- Rhea Perlman, American actress
- Rhea Mitchell, American actress (1890-1957)
- Rhea Durham, American model
- Rhea Pillai, British model
- Rhea Harder, German actress
- Rhea Raj, American singer-songwriter (born 2000)

## 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.