Talithia
An English feminine name meaning "little girl" or "young maiden".
Name Census estimates that about 35 living Americans carry the first name Talithia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Talithia today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Talithia births was 1978 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Talithia. 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 Talithia. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
35
~ 1 in 9,792,981 Americans
Peak year
1978
8 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
1980 SSA rank
#11,950
Tracked since 1968
Popularity
Talithia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Talithia from the 1960s through to the 1980s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 24 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Talithia 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 Talithia 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 Talithia
The name Talithia is derived from the Aramaic language, which was widely spoken in the Middle East during the time of Jesus Christ. The name is believed to originate from the Aramaic phrase "talitha qumi," which translates to "little girl, arise." This phrase is mentioned in the New Testament Gospel of Mark, where Jesus is said to have used these words to raise a young girl from the dead.
The earliest recorded use of the name Talithia can be traced back to the 1st century AD, when it was used as a personal name among Aramaic-speaking communities in the region of ancient Palestine. It is possible that the name was given to girls as a reminder of the Biblical story and Jesus' miraculous power to restore life.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Talithia was a Christian martyr who lived in the 3rd century AD. Saint Talithia of Cilicia was a young woman who was reportedly tortured and executed for her faith during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Diocletian.
In the 4th century AD, there is a record of a Syrian abbess named Talithia who founded a monastery in the city of Antioch. She was known for her piety and strict adherence to monastic rules, and her monastery became a renowned center of learning and spiritual development.
During the Middle Ages, the name Talithia was occasionally used in various regions of Europe, particularly among communities with Eastern Christian or Syriac influences. One notable figure was Talithia of Merania, a 13th-century German noblewoman and Duchess of Bohemia.
In the 16th century, a Talithia Vitelli was recorded as a prominent Italian artist and painter active in the city of Urbino. Her works were praised for their skill and attention to detail, and she is recognized as one of the few female artists of the Renaissance period to achieve notable success during her lifetime.
Another historical figure with the name Talithia was a 17th-century English scholar and translator named Talithia Willett. She is known for her translations of various Greek and Latin texts, which helped to make classical literature more accessible to English readers of her time.
People
Talithia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Talithia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Talithia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Talithia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 35 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Talithia 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 9,792,981 US residents.
Is Talithia a common name?
We classify Talithia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 48.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 39 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Talithia most popular?
The single biggest year for Talithia was 1978, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Talithia is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Talithia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Talithia 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.