# Rhea (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/rhea/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 8,219 |
| US rank (2010) | 4,323 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 37,565 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.7% (7,847 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɹiː.ə/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## 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.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Rhea in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 85% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 8.5% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 1.3% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 2.4% |

## Similar surnames

Rhee, Rahe, Rohe, Riha, Rea, Reh, Re, Reay, Ray, Rowe, Roy, Roe.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.