Althea
2025 SSA
Below 5 births
About Althea
Althea is a poetic, almost ethereal name found in Greek myth and pastoral poetry, associated in modern times with the great tennis player Althea Gibson, the first African-American to win at Wimbledon.
Althea appears in Greek mythology as the mother of the hero Meleager and was revived by the seventeenth-century poet Richard Lovelace as a poetic pseudonym for his beloved.
These days, parents would also appreciate the short form Thea.
Althea is the most common girl name in the Philippines.
Althea is also given to boys.
Pronounced al-THEE-ah.
As of October 2026, Althea ranked #1299 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #356 in 1920, Nameberry popularity #358.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · girls | Births · girls | US rank · boys | Births · boys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #2,098 | 92 | — | 0 |
| 2015 | #1,644 | 130 | — | 0 |
| 2016 | #1,668 | 128 | — | 0 |
| 2017 | #1,460 | 154 | — | 0 |
| 2018 | #1,385 | 162 | — | 0 |
| 2019 | #1,354 | 167 | — | 0 |
| 2020 | #1,398 | 156 | — | 0 |
| 2021 | #1,474 | 145 | — | 0 |
| 2022 | #1,342 | 175 | — | 0 |
| 2023 | #1,360 | 165 | — | 0 |
| 2024 | #1,396 | 160 | — | 0 |
| 2025 | #1,299 | 171 | — | 0 |
World rankings
Althea for girls
Similar names
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Althea on lists
Famous Altheas
- Althea GibsonGirl
American tennis player
- Althea HarperGirl
American fashion designer & former "Project Runway" contestant
- Althea Rae JanairoGirl
birth name of Tia Carrere, American actress
- Althea FlyntGirl
American wife and co,publisher of Hustler founder Larry Flynt
- Althea Gyles (born Margaret Alethea Gyles)Girl
Irish poet
- Althea Isabelle Sophie de Ligne de la Trémoïlle (b. 2010)Girl
daughter of actress Isabella Orsini & Prince Edouard de Ligne
Althea in pop culture
- Althea GellarGirl
Ross and Monica's grandmother on TV's 'Friends'
- Althea TibbsGirl
Virgil's wife on TV's 'In the Heat of the Night'
- AltheaGirl
main character in 'The Last Year' series by Trisha Leigh
- Althea CarterGirl
main character in "Althea and Oliver" by Cristina Morocco
- Greek althaea = 'marsh mallow'Girl
i.e. the bushy shrub which is noted for its healing powers. The Greek word derives from the verb althein 'to heal'.
- 'To AltheaGirl
from Prison," poem by Richard Lovelace
- 'AltheaGirl
' song by the Grateful Dead
- AltheaGirl
a character who appeared in "Hollow City", the second installment of Ransom Riggs' "Peculiar Children" series
- AltheaGirl
a character on "Fear the Walking Dead"
- Althea VestritGirl
Protagonist of the "Liveship Traders" book series by Robin Hobb