Alethea
Alethea was given to 54 girls in 2025, #3,030 among girls’ names; 4,968 Americans have been recorded with it since 1892 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 4,100 Americans named Alethea and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (82% of everyone recorded); the median is 49 years old and half are between 25 and 57.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Alethea by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Alethea mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Alethea is “a female given name.”
Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀλήθεια (alḗtheia).
/ˌæləˈθiːə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Alethea?
#3,030 among girls’ names, 2025
Alethea rose from #3,771 in 2015 to #3,030 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 22.4 to 33.6 per million.
322 babies in 1973, the peak
Alethea peaked in 1973, when 322 girls were given it, #522 among girls’ names. The 54 births of 2025 are 17% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 54 | #3,030 | 0.03 |
| 2024 | 65 | #2,661 | 0.04 |
| 2023 | 74 | #2,415 | 0.05 |
| 2022 | 80 | #2,320 | 0.05 |
| 2021 | 81 | #2,268 | 0.05 |
| 2020 | 62 | #2,683 | 0.04 |
| 2019 | 51 | #3,130 | 0.03 |
| 2018 | 29 | #4,667 | 0.02 |
| 2017 | 50 | #3,192 | 0.03 |
| 2016 | 28 | #4,857 | 0.02 |
Every recorded year (127)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 40 | #3,771 | 0.02 |
| 2014 | 36 | #4,105 | 0.02 |
| 2013 | 40 | #3,783 | 0.02 |
| 2012 | 28 | #4,967 | 0.02 |
| 2011 | 33 | #4,360 | 0.02 |
| 2010 | 25 | #5,422 | 0.01 |
| 2009 | 26 | #5,386 | 0.01 |
| 2008 | 28 | #5,148 | 0.01 |
| 2007 | 34 | #4,383 | 0.02 |
| 2006 | 26 | #5,241 | 0.01 |
| 2005 | 27 | #4,830 | 0.01 |
| 2004 | 34 | #4,090 | 0.02 |
| 2003 | 38 | #3,656 | 0.02 |
| 2002 | 26 | #4,630 | 0.01 |
| 2001 | 34 | #3,784 | 0.02 |
| 2000 | 31 | #3,979 | 0.02 |
| 1999 | 23 | #4,716 | 0.01 |
| 1998 | 22 | #4,798 | 0.01 |
| 1997 | 24 | #4,373 | 0.01 |
| 1996 | 21 | #4,737 | 0.01 |
| 1995 | 25 | #4,096 | 0.01 |
| 1994 | 36 | #3,164 | 0.02 |
| 1993 | 26 | #3,984 | 0.01 |
| 1992 | 34 | #3,262 | 0.02 |
| 1991 | 34 | #3,202 | 0.02 |
| 1990 | 41 | #2,795 | 0.02 |
| 1989 | 48 | #2,404 | 0.03 |
| 1988 | 36 | #2,863 | 0.02 |
| 1987 | 54 | #2,043 | 0.03 |
| 1986 | 31 | #2,973 | 0.02 |
| 1985 | 43 | #2,316 | 0.02 |
| 1984 | 42 | #2,299 | 0.02 |
| 1983 | 54 | #1,906 | 0.03 |
| 1982 | 77 | #1,532 | 0.05 |
| 1981 | 72 | #1,615 | 0.04 |
| 1980 | 76 | #1,542 | 0.05 |
| 1979 | 68 | #1,645 | 0.04 |
| 1978 | 88 | #1,347 | 0.06 |
| 1977 | 79 | #1,414 | 0.05 |
| 1976 | 99 | #1,161 | 0.07 |
| 1975 | 101 | #1,145 | 0.07 |
| 1974 | 201 | #716 | 0.14 |
| 1973 | 322 | #522 | 0.22 |
| 1972 | 66 | #1,457 | 0.04 |
| 1971 | 104 | #1,125 | 0.06 |
| 1970 | 87 | #1,263 | 0.05 |
| 1969 | 75 | #1,303 | 0.04 |
| 1968 | 99 | #1,056 | 0.06 |
| 1967 | 52 | #1,560 | 0.03 |
| 1966 | 42 | #1,736 | 0.02 |
| 1965 | 65 | #1,366 | 0.04 |
| 1964 | 51 | #1,593 | 0.03 |
| 1963 | 67 | #1,352 | 0.03 |
| 1962 | 74 | #1,283 | 0.04 |
| 1961 | 71 | #1,318 | 0.04 |
| 1960 | 84 | #1,187 | 0.04 |
| 1959 | 59 | #1,395 | 0.03 |
| 1958 | 45 | #1,587 | 0.02 |
| 1957 | 46 | #1,589 | 0.02 |
| 1956 | 56 | #1,397 | 0.03 |
| 1955 | 58 | #1,319 | 0.03 |
| 1954 | 47 | #1,464 | 0.02 |
| 1953 | 37 | #1,622 | 0.02 |
| 1952 | 43 | #1,468 | 0.02 |
| 1951 | 39 | #1,504 | 0.02 |
| 1950 | 34 | #1,601 | 0.02 |
| 1949 | 26 | #1,882 | 0.02 |
| 1948 | 26 | #1,858 | 0.02 |
| 1947 | 15 | #2,638 | 0.01 |
| 1946 | 14 | #2,599 | 0.01 |
| 1945 | 12 | #2,601 | 0.01 |
| 1944 | 21 | #1,868 | 0.02 |
| 1943 | 14 | #2,447 | 0.01 |
| 1942 | 20 | #1,917 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 11 | #2,667 | 0.01 |
| 1940 | 13 | #2,298 | 0.01 |
| 1939 | 10 | #2,741 | 0.01 |
| 1938 | 13 | #2,341 | 0.01 |
| 1937 | 14 | #2,197 | 0.01 |
| 1936 | 11 | #2,520 | 0.01 |
| 1935 | 10 | #2,734 | 0.01 |
| 1934 | 6 | #3,808 | 0.01 |
| 1933 | 19 | #1,775 | 0.02 |
| 1932 | 7 | #3,573 | 0.01 |
| 1931 | 8 | #3,229 | 0.01 |
| 1930 | 10 | #2,845 | 0.01 |
| 1929 | 8 | #3,396 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 21 | #1,842 | 0.02 |
| 1927 | 11 | #2,862 | 0.01 |
| 1926 | 25 | #1,667 | 0.02 |
| 1925 | 17 | #2,194 | 0.01 |
| 1924 | 26 | #1,679 | 0.02 |
| 1923 | 17 | #2,173 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 33 | #1,404 | 0.03 |
| 1921 | 23 | #1,822 | 0.02 |
| 1920 | 33 | #1,377 | 0.03 |
| 1919 | 18 | #1,990 | 0.02 |
| 1918 | 15 | #2,289 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 21 | #1,708 | 0.02 |
| 1916 | 23 | #1,581 | 0.02 |
| 1915 | 22 | #1,571 | 0.02 |
| 1914 | 13 | #1,899 | 0.02 |
| 1913 | 16 | #1,467 | 0.03 |
| 1912 | 10 | #1,847 | 0.02 |
| 1911 | 7 | #1,961 | 0.02 |
| 1910 | 9 | #1,637 | 0.02 |
| 1909 | 7 | #1,768 | 0.02 |
| 1908 | 6 | #1,869 | 0.02 |
| 1907 | 6 | #1,830 | 0.02 |
| 1904 | 6 | #1,661 | 0.02 |
| 1903 | 6 | #1,599 | 0.02 |
| 1902 | 6 | #1,598 | 0.02 |
| 1899 | 5 | #1,604 | 0.02 |
| 1897 | 5 | #1,557 | 0.02 |
| 1896 | 5 | #1,588 | 0.02 |
| 1893 | 5 | #1,444 | 0.02 |
| 1892 | 5 | #1,455 | 0.02 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Alethea a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Alethea has been recorded only for girls: SSA lists no boys with the name in 127 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Alethea: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Alethea, and how old are they?
4,100 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 82% of the 4,968 Americans ever recorded as Alethea. The median Alethea alive today is 49 years old; half are between 25 and 57.
The 2020 Census counted 3,568 people named Alethea (3,568 women and girls, 0 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 3,841 born in the U.S. The Census count is 7% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 72 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 716 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 1,510 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 654 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 454 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 686 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Alethea born?
The states with the most babies named Alethea are California, New York and Texas, with 48% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 352 | #2,504 | 0.7× |
| New York | 191 | #2,097 | 0.5× |
| Texas | 145 | #2,646 | 0.4× |
| Georgia | 108 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Illinois | 74 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Alabama | 69 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Pennsylvania | 66 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Michigan | 59 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Florida | 48 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Virginia | 45 | not ranked | 0.4× |
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Alethea with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 37,703 babies since 1880, Alethea is the third most given (13% of them). In 2025 it was given to 54 of their 292 babies (18%), again the third most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Alethea
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Alethea and names like it
- Compare Alethea and AltheaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1970sAlethea peaked in 1973.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Alethea since 1910.
- The top names of 1973The year the most babies were named Alethea.
- The names of Generation XMost people named Alethea alive today were born 1965-1980.
- Names starting with AMost given first.