Fun Facts About the Name Athalia
- More than 1 thousand babies named Athalia: U.S. records list 1,000 babies given the name Athalia from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Athalia Mean?
Athalia is an English form of the biblical Hebrew name Athaliah (עֲתַלְיָה, also written עֲתַלְיָהוּ). It is a theophoric name made of two parts: a first element of uncertain meaning and the short form of the divine name Yah (Yahweh), which appears at the end. The customary meaning given for the name is "Yahweh is exalted," taking the first element from a Hebrew root that expresses exaltation or greatness.
The first element is not fully settled. Some older lexical works connect it instead with a root meaning "to afflict" and so explain the name as "Yahweh has afflicted," while other reference works leave the first part unexplained and treat the whole name as of uncertain derivation. What is clear is the second element: the divine name Yah, which places Athalia among the many Hebrew personal names that invoke or praise Yahweh rather than describing an ordinary object or quality. The Greek of the Septuagint renders the name Gotholia, which points to a vocalization different from the one preserved in the Masoretic text.
Athalia Name History & Origins
The name belongs to the Hebrew Bible, where it is borne by several people. The best known is Athaliah, queen of Judah in the ninth century BCE. She is described in 2 Kings 8:26 as a daughter of Omri, king of Israel - a wording generally understood to mean she belonged to the Omride house - and she was the wife of King Jehoram of Judah and mother of King Ahaziah. After Ahaziah's death she had the royal heirs killed and ruled Judah for about six years, until the boy Joash was crowned and she was put to death (2 Kings 11; 2 Chronicles 22 - 23). A different Athaliah, a Benjaminite, is named in the genealogy of 1 Chronicles 8:26, and Ezra 8:7 lists a man named Athaliah among those who returned from exile, showing that the name was used outside the royal family and in more than one period.
Through the Greek Bible the name entered Christian usage in forms such as Greek Gotholia and Latin Athalia, and it circulated in western Europe chiefly as a biblical name. Its later profile owes much to literature and music: Jean Racine made the queen the subject of his tragedy Athalie (1691), and George Frideric Handel based his oratorio Athalia (1733) on Racine's play. These works are a famous literary and musical use of the name, not its origin. The Hebrew form Atalya (עתליה) remains in Jewish use, and the fuller spelling Athaliah and the shorter Athalia both appear in English today, alongside the French form Athalie.
How Popular is the Name Athalia?
Athalia 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 2025. Its best rank was #2,103 in 2025.
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 | #2,103 | 89 | 0.0055% |
| 2024 | #2,189 | 86 | 0.0053% |
| 2023 | #2,231 | 84 | 0.0052% |
| 2022 | #2,697 | 64 | 0.0039% |
| 2021 | #2,824 | 60 | 0.0037% |
| 2020 | #3,503 | 43 | 0.0027% |
| 2019 | #4,450 | 31 | 0.0018% |
| 2018 | #3,929 | 37 | 0.0022% |
| 2017 | #5,202 | 25 | 0.0014% |
| 2016 | #4,167 | 35 | 0.0020% |
| 2015 | #4,154 | 35 | 0.0020% |
| 2014 | #6,235 | 20 | 0.0011% |
| 2013 | #5,030 | 27 | 0.0015% |
| 2012 | #7,856 | 15 | 0.0009% |
| 2011 | #6,593 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 2010 | #5,441 | 25 | 0.0014% |
| 2009 | #6,846 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 2008 | #6,375 | 21 | 0.0011% |
| 2007 | #7,125 | 18 | 0.0009% |
| 2006 | #5,103 | 27 | 0.0014% |
| 2005 | #5,827 | 21 | 0.0011% |
| 2004 | #5,395 | 23 | 0.0013% |
| 2003 | #7,256 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2002 | #6,732 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 2001 | #8,836 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2000 | #8,086 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1999 | #14,647 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1998 | #14,379 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1996 | #8,213 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1994 | #11,927 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1993 | #13,659 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1982 | #10,639 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1977 | #8,522 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1976 | #9,388 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1960 | #4,792 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1951 | #5,463 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1935 | #3,447 | 7 | 0.0007% |
| 1928 | #4,230 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1927 | #4,865 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1925 | #3,131 | 10 | 0.0008% |
| 1921 | #5,173 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1919 | #3,485 | 8 | 0.0007% |
| 1918 | #3,910 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1916 | #3,955 | 6 | 0.0006% |
| 1915 | #3,161 | 8 | 0.0008% |
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 Athalia 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.
✦ Athalia's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Athalia's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.