# Thea (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/thea/  
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 | “goddess” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈθiːə/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 20,118 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 5 / 20,113 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 13,574, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Shortened from Dorothea and Theodora, ultimately from Ancient Greek θεά (theá, “goddess”).

## 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 | 146 | 1,520 |
| 2012 | 187 | 1,283 |
| 2013 | 213 | 1,134 |
| 2014 | 364 | 771 |
| 2015 | 688 | 464 |
| 2016 | 1,121 | 291 |
| 2017 | 1,193 | 268 |
| 2018 | 1,209 | 273 |
| 2019 | 1,142 | 293 |
| 2020 | 1,071 | 303 |
| 2021 | 1,033 | 314 |
| 2022 | 1,066 | 300 |
| 2023 | 974 | 321 |
| 2024 | 897 | 349 |
| 2025 | 867 | 353 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1924 | 5 | 4,891 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 212 | 235 |
| 2012 | 222 | 225 |
| 2013 | 463 | 121 |
| 2014 | 678 | 79 |
| 2015 | 1,020 | 58 |
| 2016 | 1,132 | 49 |
| 2017 | 1,041 | 53 |
| 2018 | 920 | 59 |
| 2019 | 1,052 | 46 |
| 2020 | 858 | 57 |
| 2021 | 917 | 53 |
| 2022 | 768 | 64 |
| 2023 | 716 | 63 |
| 2024 | 686 | 66 |
| 2025 | 686 | 66 |

## People named Thea

- Thea LaFond, Dominica triple jumper (born 1994)
- Thea Gill, Canadian actress
- Thea Beckman, Dutch author of children's books (1923–2004)
- Thea Sharrock, British director
- Thea Astley, Australian novelist (1925-2004)
- Thea Gilmore, British singer-songwriter
- Thea Altaras, Croatian-German physician
- Thea Ehre, Austrian actress (born 1999)
- Thea White, American voice actress (1940–2021)
- Thea Rasche, German aviator (1899-1971)
- Thea Slatyer, Australian association football player
- Thea Andrews, Canadian journalist

## 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.