Rhesa
A feminine variant of the name "Rhesa" meaning "good-spirited" or "joyful".
Name Census estimates that about 117 living Americans carry the first name Rhesa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rhesa today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rhesa births was 1985 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rhesa. 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
117
~ 1 in 2,929,524 Americans
Peak year
1985
10 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
2010 SSA rank
#16,539
Tracked since 1950
Census
Rhesa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 266 people with the first name Rhesa, which placed it at #31,950 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
#31,950
National first-name rank
People counted
266
266 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
59.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rhesa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rhesa is White at 59.8%. The next largest groups are Black (18.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.8%). 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 Rhesa 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 Rhesa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.8% · 159
- Black or African American18.4% · 49
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.8% · 26
- Hispanic or Latino6.0% · 16
- Two or more races5.6% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Rhesa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rhesa from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 33 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rhesa 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 Rhesa 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 Rhesa
The given name Rhesa is believed to have originated from the Greek language. Its roots can be traced back to the ancient Greek word "rheos," which means "stream" or "flow." This suggests that the name may have been associated with water or the concept of fluidity in its earliest usage.
In ancient Greek literature, the name Rhesa is mentioned in various texts, including the works of Homer and Hesiod. However, its exact meaning and context remain unclear due to the limited information available from those times.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Rhesa was a Greek philosopher and mathematician who lived in the 5th century BCE. Unfortunately, little is known about his life and works, as most of the records from that era have been lost or fragmented.
During the Byzantine era, Rhesa was the name of a prominent Christian theologian and scholar who lived in the 9th century CE. He is known for his contributions to the study of the Holy Scriptures and his extensive writings on various theological topics.
In the Middle Ages, Rhesa was the name of a powerful noblewoman from the Kingdom of Aragon in present-day Spain. She played a significant role in the political and cultural affairs of her time, but specific details about her life and accomplishments are scarce.
Another notable figure named Rhesa was a 16th-century Italian artist and sculptor from the Renaissance period. He was renowned for his intricate marble carvings and was commissioned to create works for various churches and noble families throughout Italy.
In the 19th century, Rhesa was the name of a celebrated French author and poet. Her literary works explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition, earning her critical acclaim and a dedicated following among the intellectual circles of her time.
It is worth noting that while the name Rhesa has been used throughout history, it has never been among the most common or popular names in any particular region or culture. Its usage has remained relatively rare, making it a unique and distinctive choice for parents seeking a name with a rich historical background.
People
Rhesa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rhesa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rhesa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rhesa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 117 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rhesa 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 2,929,524 US residents.
Is Rhesa a common name?
We classify Rhesa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 134 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rhesa most popular?
The single biggest year for Rhesa was 1985, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rhesa is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rhesa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 266 people with the name Rhesa, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,950 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 Rhesa 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 Rhesa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rhesa leans strongly female. 236 people counted with this name were female (88.7%), compared with 30 male bearers (11.3%). 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 Rhesa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rhesa is White at 59.8%. The next largest groups are Black (18.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.8%). 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 Rhesa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rhesa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.8% (159 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 Rhesa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rhesa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rhesa 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 Rhesa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rhesa 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 Rhesa 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 share the name Rhesa?
Want to know how many Americans are named Rhesa? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.