Thalia
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "blossoming, flourishing".
Name Census estimates that about 14,418 living Americans carry the first name Thalia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Thalia today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Thalia births was 1993 (700 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Thalia. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Thalia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
14K
~ 1 in 23,773 Americans
Peak year
1993
700 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#658
Tracked since 1885
Census
Thalia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 12,522 people with the first name Thalia, which placed it at #2,131 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
#2,131
National first-name rank
People counted
13K
12,522 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
64.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Thalia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thalia is Hispanic at 64.2%. The next largest groups are White (19.1%) and Black (9.5%). 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 Thalia 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 Thalia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino64.2% · 8,042
- White19.1% · 2,396
- Black or African American9.5% · 1,189
- Two or more races3.9% · 485
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 328
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 82
Popularity
Thalia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Thalia from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 3,849 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Thalia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Thalia 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 Thalia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Thalias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 39 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Thalia, while Rhode Island, Arkansas, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 310 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Thalia
The name Thalia originated from ancient Greek mythology and culture. It comes from the Greek word "thaleia," meaning "the blooming one" or "the festive one." Thalia was one of the three Graces or Charites in Greek mythology, representing beauty and fertility.
The name Thalia first appeared in ancient Greek texts and literature dating back to the 5th century BC. It was a popular name among the ancient Greeks, particularly for those associated with the arts, poetry, and celebrations. The name was also used in Athenian dramas and plays from that era.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Thalia was a Greek poet and musician who lived in the 3rd century BC. She was known for her lyrical compositions and was highly regarded in her time.
In Roman mythology, Thalia was also the name of the muse of comedy and pastoral poetry. This association with the arts and creativity further contributed to the name's popularity in ancient times.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Thalia. One of the most famous was Thalia of Miletus, a Greek philosopher and mathematician who lived around 550 BC. She is credited with being one of the first individuals to study and theorize about the nature of the universe and the concept of the immortal soul.
Another famous Thalia was Thalia of Alexandria, a 4th-century mathematician and philosopher. She is known for her contributions to the field of geometry and for her work in developing mathematical theories related to the Pythagorean theorem.
In the field of literature, Thalia Phillipidou was a renowned 19th-century Greek poet and author who played a significant role in the Greek Romantic movement. She was born in 1828 and her works, which included poetry and prose, were widely celebrated during her lifetime.
In more recent times, Thalia Menninger was an American psychoanalyst and writer who lived from 1894 to 1988. She made significant contributions to the field of psychoanalysis and was a pioneer in the study of child development and family dynamics.
Lastly, Thalia Sarantis was a Greek-American businesswoman and philanthropist who founded the cosmetics company Thalia Saran in the 1960s. She was born in 1919 and her company became widely known for its innovative skincare products and natural ingredients.
People
Thalia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Thalia 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
Thalia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thalia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 14,418 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Thalia 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 23,773 US residents.
Is Thalia a common name?
We classify Thalia as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15,808 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Thalia most popular?
The single biggest year for Thalia was 1993, when 700 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Thalia is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Thalia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 12,522 people with the name Thalia, or 4.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,131 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 Thalia 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 Thalia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Thalia appears almost entirely female. Of the 12,526 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Thalia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thalia is Hispanic at 64.2%. The next largest groups are White (19.1%) and Black (9.5%). 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 Thalia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Thalia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.2% (8,042 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 Thalia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Thalia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Thalia 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 Thalia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Thalia 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 Thalia 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 have the name Thalia?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Thalia, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.