Aletheia
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "truth" or "disclosure".
Name Census estimates that about 818 living Americans carry the first name Aletheia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Aletheia today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aletheia births was 2020 (66 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aletheia. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
818
~ 1 in 419,015 Americans
Peak year
2020
66 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,963
Tracked since 1973
Popularity
Aletheia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aletheia from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 352 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Aletheia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aletheia by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Aletheia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aletheias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Aletheia, while Illinois, North Carolina, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 33 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aletheia
The name Aletheia has its origins in Ancient Greek, where it was derived from the word 'aletheia' meaning 'truth' or 'reality'. It was a concept of great importance in Greek philosophy, particularly in the works of Plato and Aristotle, who explored the idea of truth as a fundamental aspect of existence.
Aletheia was also personified as a goddess in Greek mythology, representing truth and sincerity. She was often depicted as a young woman carrying a mirror, symbolizing the reflection of reality. The concept of Aletheia was contrasted with that of 'lethe', which represented concealment or forgetfulness.
The name Aletheia appears in various ancient Greek texts, including the works of Parmenides, a pre-Socratic philosopher who wrote about the nature of truth and reality. It is also found in the writings of the Stoic philosophers, who emphasized the importance of living in accordance with truth and reason.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Aletheia was a Greek poetess from the 5th century BC. Little is known about her life, but she is mentioned in the works of ancient scholars as a writer of lyric poetry.
In the 3rd century AD, there was a Christian martyr named Aletheia who was executed during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Diocletian. She is venerated as a saint in the Orthodox Christian tradition.
During the Renaissance period, Aletheia was a name used by several Italian humanists and scholars. One notable example is Aletheia Gozzadina (1427-1465), an Italian poet and scholar from Bologna, who was celebrated for her learning and eloquence.
In the 19th century, Aletheia was the name of a Greek goddess depicted in the famous sculpture "The Marble Faun" by American artist Harriet Hosmer. The sculpture, completed in 1854, represents the goddess as a young woman holding a mirror, symbolizing the pursuit of truth.
Another notable figure with the name Aletheia was Aletheia Waring (1847-1915), a British artist and illustrator known for her watercolor paintings and illustrations in books and magazines of the Victorian era.
People
Aletheia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aletheia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Aletheia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aletheia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 818 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aletheia going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 419,015 US residents.
Is Aletheia a common name?
We classify Aletheia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 830 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aletheia most popular?
The single biggest year for Aletheia was 2020, when 66 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aletheia is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Aletheia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aletheia in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.