How common is the surname Rhea?

8,219 people in the United States had the surname Rhea in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 37,565 Americans. It ranked 4,323rd of 162,253 surnames.

How do you pronounce Rhea?

Rhea is /ˈɹiː.ə/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Rhea getting more or less common?

More common. 7,847 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 8,219 in 2010, up 4.7%.

Is Rhea also a first name?

Yes. Rhea is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Rhea

A surname, carried by 8,219 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈɹiː.ə/ 2 syllables Soundex R000 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Rhea is more common than 97.3% of them.

Origin

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.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 8,219 people named Rhea in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 37,565 Americans. That is up 4.7% since 2000, when the Census counted 7,847.

#4,323

rank among US surnames

8,219

people in 2010

2.8

per 100,000 Americans

+4.7%

change since 2000 (was #4,188)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#4,314	Derosa	8,241	37,465
#4,315	Poore	8,240	37,469
#4,317	Ives	8,233	37,501
#4,318	Winfield	8,230	37,515
#4,319	Sprouse	8,229	37,519
#4,320	Kirkwood	8,227	37,528
#4,321	Mowery	8,226	37,533

Who is named Rhea

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

85% of people named Rhea identified as white (not Hispanic), 8.5% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

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

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Rhea

Rhea has the Soundex code R000, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code R000.

Questions

Where does the surname Rhea come from?: 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…
How common is the surname Rhea?: 8,219 people in the United States had the surname Rhea in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 37,565 Americans. It ranked 4,323rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Rhea?: In the 2010 Census, 85% of people named Rhea identified as white (not Hispanic), and 8.5% as Black (not Hispanic).
How do you pronounce Rhea?: Rhea is /ˈɹiː.ə/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Rhea getting more or less common?: More common. 7,847 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 8,219 in 2010, up 4.7%.
Is Rhea also a first name?: Yes. Rhea is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.