Lethia
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly meaning "truth" or "oblivion".
Name Census estimates that about 303 living Americans carry the first name Lethia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lethia today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lethia births was 1917 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lethia. 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
- • The typical person named Lethia is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Lethias were born before 1969.
People living today
303
~ 1 in 1,131,202 Americans
Peak year
1917
24 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
2004 SSA rank
#15,258
Tracked since 1886
Census
Lethia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 383 people with the first name Lethia, which placed it at #24,935 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
#24,935
National first-name rank
People counted
383
383 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
54.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lethia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lethia is Black at 54.3%. The next largest groups are White (34.2%) and Two or More Races (5.0%). 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 Lethia 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 Lethia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American54.3% · 208
- White34.2% · 131
- Two or more races5.0% · 19
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 3
Popularity
Lethia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lethia from the 1880s through to the 2000s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 170 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lethia 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 Lethia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lethias live
Origin
Meaning and history of Lethia
The name Lethia originates from ancient Greek, derived from the word "lethe," meaning forgetfulness or oblivion. It is believed to have been a feminine name given to children in ancient Greece, likely referring to the River Lethe in Greek mythology, which caused forgetfulness of past memories for those who drank from it.
Records of the name Lethia can be found in ancient Greek texts and writings, though its usage was relatively uncommon. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name dates back to the 5th century BC, when a Greek philosopher named Lethia of Mantinea was mentioned in writings by Plato and Aristotle.
During the Byzantine era, the name Lethia gained some popularity among Greek Christians, possibly due to its connection with the concept of forgetting earthly troubles and finding peace in the afterlife. Saint Lethia of Constantinople, a 6th-century nun and mystic, is one of the most notable historical figures to bear this name.
In the Middle Ages, the name Lethia appeared occasionally in various regions of Europe, though its usage remained relatively rare. One notable example is Lethia von Trier, a 12th-century German noblewoman and patron of the arts.
As the Renaissance era dawned, the name Lethia experienced a minor resurgence, particularly in Italy. Lethia Boccaccio, a 14th-century Italian scholar and relative of the famous writer Giovanni Boccaccio, is one example from this period.
During the 19th century, the name Lethia gained some popularity in certain parts of Europe, particularly in Greece and surrounding regions. Lethia Karamanli, a Greek revolutionary and supporter of Greek independence, was born in 1808 and played a significant role in the Greek War of Independence.
While not a common name throughout history, Lethia has left its mark in various cultures and time periods, carrying with it the connotations of forgetfulness, oblivion, and potentially a sense of peace or freedom from earthly burdens.
People
Lethia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lethia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Lethia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lethia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 303 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lethia 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 1,131,202 US residents.
Is Lethia a common name?
We classify Lethia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 987 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lethia most popular?
The single biggest year for Lethia was 1917, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lethia is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lethia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 383 people with the name Lethia, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,935 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 Lethia 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 Lethia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lethia appears almost entirely female. Of the 379 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Lethia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lethia is Black at 54.3%. The next largest groups are White (34.2%) and Two or More Races (5.0%). 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 Lethia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Lethia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.3% (208 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 Lethia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lethia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lethia 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 Lethia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lethia 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 Lethia 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 Lethia?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Lethia on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.