Elethia
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "truth" or "sincerity".
Name Census estimates that about 9 living Americans carry the first name Elethia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Elethia today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Elethia births was 1917 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Elethia. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Elethia. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
9
~ 1 in 38,083,815 Americans
Peak year
1917
5 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
1984 SSA rank
#10,883
Tracked since 1917
Census
Elethia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 111 people with the first name Elethia, which placed it at #51,800 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#51,800
National first-name rank
People counted
111
111 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
62.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Elethia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elethia is Black at 62.2%. The next largest groups are White (21.6%) and Hispanic (9.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Elethia described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Elethia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American62.2% · 69
- White21.6% · 24
- Hispanic or Latino9.0% · 10
- Two or more races5.4% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Popularity
Elethia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Elethia from the 1910s through to the 1980s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 5 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Elethia 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 Elethia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Elethia
The name Elethia has its roots in Ancient Greek, originating from the word "aletheia" which translates to "truth" or "sincerity." It was a concept deeply revered in Greek philosophy, particularly by thinkers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. The name is believed to have first emerged during the Classical Greek period, spanning from the 5th to the 4th century BCE.
One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the works of the ancient Greek philosopher Parmenides, who lived around 500 BCE. In his philosophical poem "On Nature," he explored the concept of truth and its relationship to reality, potentially drawing inspiration from the name's meaning.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Elethia. One of the earliest recorded examples is Elethia of Thebes, a Greek noblewoman who lived in the 4th century BCE. She was renowned for her patronage of the arts and her support of the philosopher Plato's Academy.
In the medieval period, there was Elethia of Tarsus, a 6th-century Byzantine scholar known for her translations of Greek philosophical texts into Latin. Her work helped preserve and disseminate ancient Greek knowledge during a time of cultural upheaval.
During the Renaissance, Elethia Cibo was an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts, born in 1460. She was a member of the influential Cibo family and played a significant role in supporting the arts and culture in 15th-century Italy.
In more recent times, Elethia Pauline L'Enfant, born in 1836, was an American educator and women's rights activist. She was a prominent figure in the early women's suffrage movement and advocated for equal educational opportunities for women.
Another notable bearer of the name was Elethia Cameron Ferguson, an African American educator and civil rights activist born in 1897. She dedicated her life to improving educational opportunities for African American children in the segregated South and was a tireless advocate for social justice.
While the name Elethia has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, its rich meaning and cultural significance have endured, reflecting the enduring value placed on truth and sincerity across various civilizations and eras.
People
Elethia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Elethia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Elethia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Elethia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Elethia 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 38,083,815 US residents.
Is Elethia a common name?
We classify Elethia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 25.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Elethia most popular?
The single biggest year for Elethia was 1917, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Elethia is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Elethia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 111 people with the name Elethia, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #51,800 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Elethia in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Elethia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Elethia appears almost entirely female. Of the 106 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Elethia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Elethia is Black at 62.2%. The next largest groups are White (21.6%) and Hispanic (9.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Elethia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Elethia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.2% (69 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Elethia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Elethia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Elethia 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.
Is Elethia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Elethia in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Elethia can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people are called Elethia?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.