Rhea
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Meaning
of unknown meaning; perhaps related to Greek rheo, "to flow", or era, "ground"
The story
Rhea hands Cronus a stone wrapped in baby clothes, and he swallows it. In the Library attributed to Pseudo-Apollodorus, Cronus has been warned that a son will overthrow him, so he swallows Rhea’s children as they are born. For Zeus’s birth, she goes to Crete, gives birth in a cave and leaves the baby with carers; the disguised stone takes his place. Rhea’s Greek name has no settled meaning, though proposed connections include words for flowing and for the ground. The substitution conceals Zeus’s birth, but the infant’s cries still have to be hidden from Cronus. The Curetes guard the infant, striking their spears against their shields so that the noise covers his cries. A bundle fools the father; the clatter protects the son.
How popular is Rhea around the world?
In the United States, 2,965 babies were named Rhea between 2020 and 2025. In Ireland, 59 girls named Rhea were born in 2025, the 85th most common name among girls that year.
Rhea is on the official records of the United States, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, New Zealand, England and Wales, Austria, France, Spain and Brazil.
United States
1 in 7,300
In the United States, 2,965 babies were named Rhea between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Rhea peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure. In US birth records Rhea has stayed between 1,001 and 2,965 births in every decade since the 1950s: a name everyone knows and few children get.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Ireland
1 in 920
In Ireland, 59 girls named Rhea were born in 2025, the 85th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. This registry counts each spelling separately; the figures above are for the exact spelling Rhea, and accented spellings are separate names. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Scotland
1 in 1,100
In Scotland, 42 girls named Rhea were registered in 2024, the 102nd most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Canada
1 in 4,800
In Canada, 76 girls named Rhea were born in 2024, the 391st most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
New Zealand
1 in 5,200
In New Zealand, 11 girls named Rhea were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
England and Wales
1 in 5,400
In England and Wales, 109 girls named Rhea were born in 2025, the 388th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Austria
1 in 11,000
In Austria, 7 girls named Rhea were born in 2025, the 620th most common name among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
France
1 in 64,000
In France, about 10 girls named Rhea were born in 2025, ranked 2,760th among girls that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Spain
1 in 830,000
In Spain, 54 residents are named Rhea, ranked 13,059th among women, with a mean age of 33.4 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 45 people in Brazil were named Rhea, ranked 71,575th, with a median age of 59.
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
South Australia
last on record 2013
Rhea is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
Keep exploring
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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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