Alethea
About Alethea
Alethea, the name of the Greek goddess of truth, came into fashion in England in the 16th century, in tandem with the virtue names. Alethea may find new favor now, thanks to its similarity to Athena, Ophelia, and Alessia, and because it gets you nickname Thea.
The name can be pronounced as al-uh-THEE-uh or uh-LEE-thee-uh in English, though uh-LAY-thee-uh may also be heard. It was given to 65 babies in a recent year in the US.
Pronounced uh-LETH-uh.
As of October 2026, Alethea ranked #3030 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #522 in 1973.
Editor's take: The name Alethea is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "truth".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #4,107 | 36 | 20.2 |
| 2015 | #3,771 | 40 | 22.4 |
| 2016 | #4,855 | 28 | 15.8 |
| 2017 | #3,191 | 50 | 29 |
| 2018 | #4,667 | 29 | 17 |
| 2019 | #3,128 | 51 | 30.4 |
| 2020 | #2,679 | 62 | 38.4 |
| 2021 | #2,267 | 81 | 49.4 |
| 2022 | #2,318 | 80 | 48.8 |
| 2023 | #2,414 | 74 | 46.1 |
| 2024 | #2,649 | 65 | 40.1 |
| 2025 | #3,030 | 54 | 33.6 |
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Alethea.
- Anthea
- Cerelia
- Oriana
- Praskovia
- Lúthien
- Nerissa
- Theia
- Mauri
- Cyra
- Morrigan
- Seraphine
- Ianthe
- Idalia
- Astraea
- Enya
- Aeliana
- Astoria
- Artemisia
- Ceridwen
- Phaedra
Alethea on lists
Famous Aletheas
- Alethea Howard
Countess of Arundel
- Alethea Catharine Hayter
English journalist and author
- Alethea Kontis
American children's author
- Alethea Blow Charlton
English actress
- Alethea Ada McGrath
Australian actress
- Margaret Alethea Gyles
birth name of Althea Gyles, Irish poet
Alethea in pop culture
- Alethea Hunt
character in David Ireland's absurdist novel "A Woman of the Future" (1979)
- Sophia Alethea Hobson
Col. Thomas Newcome's second wife in "The Newcomes" (1853,5) by William Makepeace Thackeray