Girl's name
Rhea
Say it REE-uh
Greek origin ground, earth
2 syllables
Where Rhea is loved, common and rare
Common across Northern Ireland and Ireland. Rare in Scotland, Canada, three German cities and six more places.
1 in 155 girls born in Northern Ireland in 2025
Northern Ireland 35thIreland 85thScotland 116th
LovedCommonRare
Every place
In 15 of the 40 official lists, among them Northern Ireland (35th), Ireland (85th) and Scotland (116th).
Show all 15 placesShow less
| Place | Rank | Girls | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland | 35th 2025 | 47 | 1 in 155 |
| Ireland | 85th 2025 | 64 | 1 in 330 |
| Scotland | 116th 2025 | 38 | 1 in 471 |
| British Columbia province | 321st 2023 | 10 | about 1 in 1,196 |
| Ontario province | 364th 2024 | 35 | about 1 in 1,556 |
| Switzerland | 387th 2025 | 20 | 1 in 1,700 |
| England and Wales | 388th 2025 | 109 | 1 in 2,324 |
| Berlin city | 428th 2023 | 7 | about 1 in 2,072 |
| Quebec province | 467th 2025 | 10 | about 1 in 2,600 |
| Austria | 620th 2025 | 7 | 1 in 5,103 |
| Cologne city | 630th 2023 | 1 | about 1 in 6,143 |
| The Netherlands | 907th 2025 | 11 | about 1 in 5,547 |
| Italy | 1359th 2024 | 6 | 1 in 29,862 |
| France as Rhéa | 2317th 2025 | 10 | 1 in 28,679 |
| Bonn city | 382nd 2025 | 1 | about 1 in 3,015 |
Rare, below the listed names: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, New Zealand, Munich, Leipzig, Rostock, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Catalonia, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia and Israel.
Not in a short top list, so no figure: Nova Scotia (top 21), Denmark (top 50), Finland (top 50), Iceland (top 10), Estonia (top 25), Moscow (top 61), Turkey (top 30), Argentina (top 20) and Croatia (top 50).
Germany publishes no national statistics on first names. German figures here are city lists (Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Bonn, Leipzig, Rostock), never the country.
Sources: NISRA (Northern Ireland); Central Statistics Office (CSO) (Ireland); National Records of Scotland (Scotland); BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (British Columbia); Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (Ontario); Bundesamt für Statistik (BFS) / Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS) (Switzerland); Office for National Statistics (England and Wales); BerlinOnline GmbH; Landesamt für Bürger- und Ordnungsangelegenheiten (LABO) / Standesämter (Berlin); Retraite Québec (Banque de prénoms, Données Québec) (Quebec); Statistik Austria (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1) (Austria); Stadt Köln, Standesamt (offenedaten-koeln.de) (Cologne); Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) (the Netherlands); ISTAT, Contanomi (Italy); INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (France); Bundesstadt Bonn, Standesamt (opendata.bonn.de) (Bonn). How we count, and every source
About the name
Rhea comes from the Ancient Greek Rhéa, the Titaness of Greek mythology and mother of Zeus. The origin of the Greek name is disputed. One suggestion connects it with a word for 'ground, earth', another with 'to flow, stream', and a pre-Greek origin has also been proposed. A moon of Saturn bears the name.
Read the restShow less
Two syllables, said REE-uh, with the stress on the first. Rhéa is the French spelling.
It is climbing in nine regions and falling in none. Northern Ireland places it inside the top 40, and it is also well used in Ireland and Scotland, with smaller numbers in Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands. Canadian records show it in use for a century and reaching its peak in 2021, so this is an old name at its most popular now.
Meaning, origin, pronunciation
- Pronounced
- REE-uh, 2 syllables
- Meaning
ground, earth
- Origin
- Greek
Counted together here: Rhéa.
Etymology
Internationalism, borrowed from Latin Rhea (“Rhea”), from Ancient Greek Ῥέα (Rhéa, “Rhea”). The origin of the Ancient Greek name is disputed. Suggested explanations connect it with ἔρα (éra, “ground, earth”) or ῥέω (rhéō, “to flow, stream”), while a Pre-Greek or Minoan origin has also been proposed.
From the Wiktionary entry, CC BY-SA 4.0, shortened.
Over time
Over five years: rising in 9 of 10 regions, falling in none.
Show the yearsShow less
Rank in each place since 1996; higher on the chart is more popular.
Ten years of ranks
Her rank each year, English-speaking regions first. A blank means no published rank for her that year.
| Region | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England and Wales | 485 | 533 | 532 | 510 | 472 | 407 | 486 | 485 | 473 | 388 |
| Scotland | 262 | 210 | 208 | 199 | 186 | 138 | 179 | 160 | 102 | 116 |
| Northern Ireland | 211 | 215 | 166 | 113 | 212 | 131 | 103 | 45 | 52 | 35 |
| Ireland | 273 | 249 | 267 | 201 | 160 | 143 | 124 | 130 | 93 | 85 |
| Ontario | 346 | 365 | 458 | 386 | 315 | 255 | 291 | 384 | 364 | |
| British Columbia | 578 | 284 | 675 | 305 | 248 | 250 | 316 | 321 | ||
| Quebec | 831 | 915 | 730 | 913 | 703 | 722 | 499 | 612 | 467 | |
| France | 3591 | 3634 | 3605 | 3650 | 2420 | 1523 | 2317 | |||
| The Netherlands | 907 | |||||||||
| Austria | 1054 | 860 | 1024 | 1310 | 1291 | 878 | 859 | 825 | 872 | 620 |
| Switzerland | 515 | 640 | 657 | 707 | 830 | 1209 | 602 | 417 | 495 | 387 |
| Berlin | 985 | 1007 | 484 | 437 | 799 | 428 | ||||
| Rostock | 158 | |||||||||
| Italy | 2245 | 1126 | 1359 |
England and Wales, 1996 to 2025
| Year | Rank | Girls | per 100,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 388 | 109 | 43.0 |
| 2024 | 473 | 87 | 33.7 |
| 2023 | 485 | 82 | 32.0 |
| 2022 | 486 | 84 | 31.9 |
| 2021 | 407 | 109 | 39.8 |
| 2020 | 472 | 85 | 31.7 |
| 2019 | 510 | 80 | 28.6 |
| 2018 | 532 | 79 | 27.4 |
| 2017 | 533 | 81 | 27.1 |
| 2016 | 485 | 89 | 29.0 |
| 2015 | 570 | 75 | 24.4 |
| 2014 | 541 | 78 | 25.4 |
| 2013 | 492 | 86 | 27.9 |
| 2012 | 529 | 80 | 24.8 |
| 2011 | 480 | 89 | 27.7 |
| 2010 | 458 | 90 | 28.0 |
| 2009 | 428 | 97 | 31.0 |
| 2008 | 420 | 102 | 32.3 |
| 2007 | 417 | 99 | 32.3 |
| 2006 | 333 | 130 | 43.4 |
| 2005 | 348 | 115 | 39.9 |
| 2004 | 321 | 124 | 43.4 |
| 2003 | 326 | 116 | 41.6 |
| 2002 | 329 | 109 | 40.8 |
| 2001 | 323 | 110 | 41.0 |
| 2000 | 302 | 121 | 44.3 |
| 1999 | 357 | 90 | 31.9 |
| 1998 | 325 | 109 | 37.7 |
| 1997 | 346 | 97 | 33.1 |
| 1996 | 361 | 93 | 31.4 |
Sources: Office for National Statistics (1996-2025), OGL v3.
Ontario and British Columbia since 1925
Half of the babies named Rhea in Ontario and British Columbia since 1925 were born in or after 2006. First recorded in 1925. Her peak year there: 2021, at 89.2 per 100,000 girls.
Babies named Rhea per 100,000 girls born in Ontario and British Columbia, by five-year period. Her 2021 peak is averaged into its five-year period, so the line sits below it.
Sources: Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (1917-2024), OGL-Ontario; BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (1924-2023), OGL-BC.
Sister names for Rhea
1 in 587 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Rhea.
1 in 1,118 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Rhea.
1 in 187 in Northern Ireland
Rose and fell with Rhea.
1 in 197 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Rhea.
1 in 267 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Rhea.
1 in 225 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Rhea.
1 in 596 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Rhea.
1 in 480 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Rhea.
1 in 383 in Northern Ireland
Rose and fell with Rhea.
1 in 511 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Rhea.
Middle names for Rhea
1 in 57 in Northern Ireland
Rhea Grace
2-1 beats · initials RG
Changes the beat after Rhea: 2 syllables, then 1 syllable.
1 in 71 in Scotland
Rhea Olivia
2-4 beats · initials RO · Rhea slides into Olivia: vowel meets vowel.
Changes the beat after Rhea: 2 syllables, then 4 syllables. Rhea slides into Olivia: vowel meets vowel.
1 in 78 in Northern Ireland
Rhea Emily
2-3 beats · initials RE · Rhea slides into Emily: vowel meets vowel.
Changes the beat after Rhea: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables. Rhea slides into Emily: vowel meets vowel.
1 in 491 in Ireland
Rhea Julia
2-3 beats · initials RJ
Changes the beat after Rhea: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 214 in Northern Ireland
Rhea Rose
2-1 beats · initials RR
Changes the beat after Rhea: 2 syllables, then 1 syllable.
1 in 1,286 in England and Wales
Rhea Miriam
2-3 beats · initials RM
Changes the beat after Rhea: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 107 in Northern Ireland
Rhea Charlotte
2-2 beats · initials RC
A close match on style, era and popularity. Same length as Rhea: 2 syllables.
1 in 1,243 in Ireland
Rhea Diana
2-3 beats · initials RD
Changes the beat after Rhea: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
Same style as Rhea
Names whose popularity rose and fell with hers across regions and decades.
1 in 596 in Scotland
95% alike: moves with Rhea across countries and decades.
1 in 187 in Northern Ireland
94% alike: moves with Rhea across countries and decades.
1 in 383 in Northern Ireland
94% alike: moves with Rhea across countries and decades.
1 in 140 in Northern Ireland
93% alike: moves with Rhea across countries and decades.
1 in 346 in Ireland
93% alike: moves with Rhea across countries and decades.
1 in 121 in Ireland
92% alike: moves with Rhea across countries and decades.
1 in 267 in Scotland
92% alike: moves with Rhea across countries and decades.
1 in 895 in Scotland
92% alike: moves with Rhea across countries and decades.
Famous people named Rhea
Rhea Perlman, Rhea Seddon, Rhea Seehorn and Rhea Kapoor.
Show all 4Show less
-
American actress born 1948
-
Surgeon and former NASA astronaut born 1947
-
American actress (born 1972)
-
Indian film producer born 1987
People: Wikidata (CC0), linked to Wikipedia in this page's language when an article exists.
Questions about Rhea
5 questions, on how popular she is, what it means, how to say it, whether she is rising and sister names.
Show all 5 questionsShow less
How popular is Rhea?
Her best rank is No. 35 in Northern Ireland in 2025, about 1 in 155 girls. She is in the published lists of 15 of our 40 regions.
What does Rhea mean?
Wiktionary glosses Rhea as "ground, earth".
How do you pronounce Rhea?
REE-uh, with 2 syllables.
Is Rhea getting more popular?
Over five years: rising in 9 of 10 regions, falling in none.
Which sister names go with Rhea?
The deck's top five sisters for Rhea: Maggie, Arianna, Cora, Katie and Skye. Each is scored on style, era, popularity and origin, with sound clashes flagged.