Thalya
A Persian name meaning "third part of the day, afternoon".
Name Census estimates that about 140 living Americans carry the first name Thalya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Thalya today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Thalya births was 1993 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Thalya. 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
140
~ 1 in 2,448,245 Americans
Peak year
1993
16 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2023 SSA rank
#17,374
Tracked since 1989
Census
Thalya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 195 people with the first name Thalya, which placed it at #38,993 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
#38,993
National first-name rank
People counted
195
195 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
64.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Thalya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thalya is Hispanic at 64.6%. The next largest groups are Black (16.4%) and White (10.8%). 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 Thalya 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 Thalya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino64.6% · 126
- Black or African American16.4% · 32
- White10.8% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.1% · 8
- Two or more races4.1% · 8
Popularity
Thalya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Thalya from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 64 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Thalya 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 Thalya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Thalyas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Thalya
The name Thalya is believed to have originated from the Greek language, tracing its roots back to ancient times. It is derived from the Greek word "thallos," which means a young shoot or tender branch, symbolizing growth, renewal, and vitality.
In Greek mythology, Thalya was one of the three Charities or Graces, along with Aglaia and Euphrosyne. These deities were associated with beauty, charm, and festivity, and were often depicted in art and literature as companions of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty.
The earliest recorded use of the name Thalya can be found in ancient Greek texts and inscriptions, although its exact origin and meaning have been subject to debate among scholars. Some believe it may have been a variation of the name Thalia, which was also associated with the Muse of comedy and pastoral poetry.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Thalya. One of the earliest was Thalya of Miletus, a Greek poetess who lived in the 6th century BCE and was renowned for her lyrical compositions. Another was Thalya of Crete, a philosopher and mathematician active in the 4th century BCE.
During the Byzantine era, Thalya was the name of a prominent noblewoman and courtier who served as a lady-in-waiting to the Empress Theodora in the 6th century CE. In the 12th century, Thalya Comnena was a member of the influential Comnenus dynasty and was known for her literary works.
In more recent times, Thalya was the name of a French actress and dancer who rose to fame in the early 20th century. Thalya Phillippa (1892-1976) was renowned for her performances in various Parisian cabarets and music halls.
Another notable figure was Thalya Ayres (1915-2008), an American author and journalist who wrote extensively about her travels and experiences in various parts of the world, including Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
People
Thalya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Thalya 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
Thalya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thalya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 140 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Thalya 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 2,448,245 US residents.
Is Thalya a common name?
We classify Thalya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 143 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Thalya most popular?
The single biggest year for Thalya was 1993, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Thalya is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Thalya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 195 people with the name Thalya, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,993 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 Thalya 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 Thalya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Thalya appears almost entirely female. Of the 187 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Thalya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thalya is Hispanic at 64.6%. The next largest groups are Black (16.4%) and White (10.8%). 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 Thalya most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Thalya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.6% (126 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 Thalya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Thalya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Thalya 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 Thalya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Thalya 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 Thalya 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 common is the name Thalya?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Thalya at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.