Recorded 1918–1990 Girls' name Peak 1978 40 births

Thema — girls' name

40 babies named Thema in U.S. Social Security records since 1918, with the highest year being 1978. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

1910s51970s301990s5
1970s
Peak decade

75% of everyone ever named Thema was born in this single decade.

1978
Single peak year

9 babies were named Thema in 1978 — its busiest year on record.

What the Data Says About Thema

The Social Security Administration has registered 40 babies named Thema between 1918 and 1990, spanning 73 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a girl's name, Thema currently falls outside the top 1,000 girls' names for 1990. The name reached its historical peak in 1978, when 9 babies received it in a single year.

Decade-level aggregation shows that Thema performed strongest in the 1970s, accumulating 30 births during that ten-year window. Across the 3 decades of recorded activity, Thema shows a clear decline from its mid-century high.

No etymological entry is currently available for Thema in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 40 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.

Thema at a glance

Last recorded 1990

Total births

40

Since 1918

73 years of records

Peak year

1978

9 births that year

Strongest decade: 1970s

Current rank

Unranked

Outside the modern top-1,000

As of 1990

Active since

1918

Recorded for 73 years

Last year on file: 1990

Thema popularity over time

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1990–1918

Last recorded 1990
Peak year (1978)
9
Annual births at peak — across 73 years of records
45678910 199019791978197719761918 5

Thema by decade

Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance

Peak: 1970s
Peak decade
1970s
30 births that decade — 75% of Thema's all-time total
1910s51970s301990s5

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Thema?
40 babies have been named Thema since 1918. It was last recorded in 1990. The peak year was 1978 with 9 births.
When was Thema most popular?
Thema was most popular in the 1970s decade with 30 total births. The single peak year was 1978.
How long has the name Thema been used?
Thema has been recorded in Social Security data since 1918, spanning 73 years of data through 1990.
What names are similar to Thema?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Theresa, Thelma, Therese, Thea, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for girls.

Data Sources

Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1918–1990 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.