Alithia
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "truth".
Name Census estimates that about 112 living Americans carry the first name Alithia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Alithia today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alithia births was 2012 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alithia. 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
112
~ 1 in 3,060,307 Americans
Peak year
2012
13 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2022 SSA rank
#15,421
Tracked since 1968
Census
Alithia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 171 people with the first name Alithia, which placed it at #42,203 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
#42,203
National first-name rank
People counted
171
171 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
35.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alithia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alithia is White at 35.7%. The next largest groups are Black (24.0%) and Hispanic (24.0%). 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 Alithia 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 Alithia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White35.7% · 61
- Black or African American24.0% · 41
- Hispanic or Latino24.0% · 41
- Two or more races8.2% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.6% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Popularity
Alithia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alithia from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 69 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Alithia 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 Alithia 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 Alithia
The name Alithia is a feminine given name of Greek origin, derived from the ancient Greek word "aletheia," which means truth or reality. It is believed to have been in use since ancient times, with its earliest recorded instances dating back to the classical period of ancient Greece.
In ancient Greek philosophy, the concept of aletheia was central to the pursuit of knowledge and understanding. It was a fundamental principle that guided the works of renowned philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. The name Alithia would have been associated with virtues like honesty, integrity, and a commitment to seeking the truth.
One of the earliest known individuals to bear this name was Alithia of Thessaly, a Greek philosopher who lived in the 4th century BCE. She was a student of Plato and is mentioned in several ancient texts as a prominent figure in the philosophical circles of her time.
During the Byzantine era, the name Alithia gained popularity among Greek-speaking Christians, who saw it as a representation of their faith and the belief in the ultimate truth of their religion. Saint Alithia of Tarsus, a 4th-century martyr, is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and her name is celebrated on July 23rd in the church's liturgical calendar.
In the Renaissance period, the name Alithia was revived in Italy, where it was adopted by several notable figures. Alithia Degli Albizzi (1360-1435) was a Florentine noblewoman and patron of the arts, known for her support of artists and scholars during the Italian Renaissance.
Another notable bearer of the name was Alithia Petronilla Constantia (1692-1768), a German-born princess who married into the House of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She played a significant role in the cultural and intellectual life of the court during her time.
In more recent history, the name Alithia was carried by Alithia Adair (1899-1989), an American actress and singer who was active in the early 20th century. She performed on Broadway and in several notable films during the golden age of Hollywood.
While the name Alithia has remained relatively uncommon compared to other Greek names, it has maintained a unique and meaningful connection to its ancient roots, representing the enduring pursuit of truth and knowledge across various cultures and eras.
People
Alithia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alithia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Alithia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alithia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 112 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alithia 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 3,060,307 US residents.
Is Alithia a common name?
We classify Alithia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 116 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alithia most popular?
The single biggest year for Alithia was 2012, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alithia 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 Alithia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 171 people with the name Alithia, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,203 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 Alithia 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 Alithia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alithia appears almost entirely female. Of the 175 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 Alithia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alithia is White at 35.7%. The next largest groups are Black (24.0%) and Hispanic (24.0%). 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 Alithia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Alithia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 35.7% (61 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 Alithia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alithia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Alithia 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 Alithia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alithia 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 Alithia 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 Alithia as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.