Fun Facts About the Name Aletheia
- 888 babies named Aletheia: U.S. records list 888 babies given the name Aletheia from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Aletheia Mean?
Aletheia is a feminine name taken directly from the Greek noun alētheia (ἀλήθεια), which means "truth." The word is most often explained as a compound of the negative prefix a- ("not") and lēthē (λήθη), "forgetfulness" or "oblivion," so its literal sense would be "not forgetting" or, by extension, "not hidden." That derivation is traditional rather than certain: some linguists connect the second element instead to a root meaning "to escape notice" or "to be concealed," which yields the same general idea of something brought out of hiding. Either way, the everyday meaning of the Greek word is simply "truth." In the twentieth century the philosopher Martin Heidegger made alētheia famous as "unconcealment," but that is a philosophical reading of the term, not evidence of a different ordinary meaning in ancient Greek.
Aletheia Name History & Origins
In ancient Greek, alētheia was a common word for truth, used in law courts, philosophy, and ordinary speech, and it appears frequently in the New Testament with the sense of both truthfulness and divine truth. Greek writers also personified it: Aletheia was counted among the minor divine figures as the spirit of truth, and she appears in that role in later collections of myth and fable. Plato and other philosophers used the word constantly, but the philosophical use stayed tied to the word's ordinary meaning.
As a personal name, Aletheia keeps the Greek spelling with the ending -eia. The related English form Alethea has been used in Britain since at least the sixteenth century; Alethea Talbot, Countess of Arundel, lived from 1585 to 1654. The two spellings come from the same Greek word and carry the same meaning. Aletheia appears as a given name in modern Greek use and among English speakers, but its history as a personal name is far shorter and less documented than its long life as a philosophical and religious term.
How Popular is the Name Aletheia?
Aletheia has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2020. Its best rank was #2,578 in 2020.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #2,897 | 58 | 0.0036% |
| 2024 | #2,963 | 55 | 0.0034% |
| 2023 | #3,760 | 40 | 0.0025% |
| 2022 | #3,366 | 47 | 0.0029% |
| 2021 | #2,781 | 61 | 0.0037% |
| 2020 | #2,578 | 66 | 0.0041% |
| 2019 | #4,164 | 34 | 0.0020% |
| 2018 | #3,791 | 39 | 0.0023% |
| 2017 | #3,481 | 44 | 0.0025% |
| 2016 | #3,523 | 44 | 0.0025% |
| 2015 | #3,300 | 49 | 0.0027% |
| 2014 | #4,005 | 37 | 0.0021% |
| 2013 | #4,429 | 32 | 0.0018% |
| 2012 | #5,259 | 26 | 0.0015% |
| 2011 | #4,809 | 29 | 0.0016% |
| 2010 | #6,917 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 2009 | #5,230 | 27 | 0.0015% |
| 2008 | #5,961 | 23 | 0.0012% |
| 2007 | #10,851 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2006 | #7,889 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2005 | #14,577 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2004 | #7,094 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 2003 | #12,469 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2002 | #12,239 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1999 | #11,433 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1998 | #10,159 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1995 | #11,826 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1989 | #10,884 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1986 | #7,768 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1985 | #10,705 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1984 | #10,455 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1982 | #6,379 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1980 | #7,429 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1979 | #9,040 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1978 | #7,664 | 7 | 0.0005% |
| 1977 | #9,676 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1976 | #9,311 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1974 | #6,909 | 7 | 0.0005% |
| 1973 | #8,449 | 5 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Aletheia Shapes Your Personality and Life?
Powerful and complete. You are good intellectually and require several outlets for your energies. You are not a builder but a planner, and you want others to carry out your plans. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You are very intuitive. You have a reservoir of inspired wisdom combined with inherited analytical ability, which could reward you through expressions of spiritual leadership, business analysis, marketing, artistic visions, and scientific research. Operating on spiritual side of your individuality can bring you to the great heights, and drop you off if you neglect your spiritual identity. You are always looking for an opportunity to investigate the unknown, to use and show your mental abilities, to find the purpose and meaning of life. You want to grow wise and to understand people and things. You need privacy to replenish your energy. You have a unique way of thinking, intuitive, reflective, absorbing.
✦ Aletheia's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Aletheia's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.