Rhea
Meaning
“Titan goddess of Greek mythology, mother of the Olympian gods”
The story
Rhea is one of the oldest names on this site and one of the least explained: Behind the Name gives its meaning as unknown, perhaps related to Greek rheo, to flow, or era, ground, and honesty says we leave it there. What is certain is the bearer: in Greek mythology Rhea is the Titan wife of Cronus and mother of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Demeter and Hestia, the mother of the entire Olympian order. In Roman legend Rhea Silvia bore Romulus and Remus. The American record is patient: several hundred girls in most decades since the 1890s, never absent, then a build to about 2,000 in the 2000s, about 2,700 in the 2010s, and about 3,000 so far this decade. A two-syllable name that predates the alphabet it is written in, still gathering speed.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Rhea peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
45 people · the #71,575 first name in Brazil · median age 59
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
The Rhea deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Rhea truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Rhea fits with your family’s names and surname.
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