Rhoda
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "rose tree" or "rose bush".
Name Census estimates that about 8,471 living Americans carry the first name Rhoda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rhoda today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rhoda births was 1926 (547 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rhoda. 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
8.5K
~ 1 in 40,462 Americans
Peak year
1926
547 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
1927 SSA rank
#2,870
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Rhoda
Out of the 26,021 babies given the name Rhoda since 1880, 100.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Rhoda as a male name
- Ranked #4,684 in 1927
- 5 male births in 1927
- Peak: 1897 (7 births)
Rhoda as a female name
- Ranked #2,870 in 2024
- 58 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1926 (547 births)
Popularity
Rhoda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rhoda from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 4,761 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rhoda 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 Rhoda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rhodas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 48 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio recorded the most babies named Rhoda, while Wyoming, Vermont, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 355 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rhoda
The name Rhoda has its origins in ancient Greek culture, derived from the word "rhodon," meaning "rose." It is believed to have emerged as a feminine given name as early as the 5th century BC.
In ancient Greek mythology, Rhodos was the name of the island nymph who was beloved by the sun god Helios. The island of Rhodes was named after her, and the rose flower was closely associated with the island, lending further significance to the name's floral connotation.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rhoda appears in the New Testament of the Bible. In the Book of Acts, Rhoda is mentioned as a servant girl who recognized Peter's voice at the gate of a house in Jerusalem, around 33-34 AD.
In the early Christian era, the name gained popularity among followers of the faith, particularly in regions influenced by Greek culture and language.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Rhoda, including Rhoda Janzen (born 1957), an American author and academic known for her memoir "Mennonite in a Little Black Dress." Another Rhoda of note was Rhoda Fleming (1838-1920), an English novelist and playwright who wrote under the pseudonym George Fleming.
In the 16th century, Rhoda Carew (c. 1553-1620) was an English noblewoman and courtier who served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I.
During the 19th century, Rhoda Rindskopf (1858-1905) was a prominent American educator and school administrator who established several successful schools in New York City.
More recently, Rhoda Morgenstern (played by Valerie Harper, born 1939) was a popular character on the 1970s sitcom "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," helping to revive the name's popularity in the latter half of the 20th century.
People
Rhoda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rhoda as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rhoda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rhoda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,471 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rhoda 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 40,462 US residents.
Is Rhoda a common name?
We classify Rhoda as "Rare". It ranks above 97.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 26,021 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rhoda most popular?
The single biggest year for Rhoda was 1926, when 547 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rhoda is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Rhoda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rhoda 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.