Fun Facts About the Name Ilithyia
- 100 babies named Ilithyia: U.S. records list 100 babies given the name Ilithyia from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Ilithyia Mean?
Ilithyia is the Latin spelling of the Greek name Eileithyia (Εἰλείθυια), the name of the Greek goddess who attended women in childbirth. Its meaning is not securely settled. The explanation found most often in ancient and modern writing links the name to the Greek verb eleuthō, "to come," giving a sense like "the one who comes" - the goddess who comes to a woman in labor. That is a customary Greek interpretation rather than a provable literal translation.
Because the name is already recorded in Mycenaean Greek in a shape that does not follow ordinary Greek word-building, many scholars treat it as a pre-Greek word, probably of Cretan (Minoan) origin, and regard the "comes" meaning as a later Greek re-reading of an older name. Ilithyia is used in English mainly as the Latin form of the classical goddess's name; as a personal name it remains rare.
Ilithyia Name History & Origins
The earliest evidence for the name is a Mycenaean Greek tablet from Knossos in Crete, written in Linear B and dated to roughly the 14th century BC, which records offerings of honey to a deity written e-re-u-ti-ja - Eleuthia - at Amnisos. This places the name in use about a thousand years before the classical Greek texts and in a form consistent with a word older than Greek and likely Cretan in origin. The cave sanctuary at Amnisos, on the coast near Knossos, remained her chief cult site; the Odyssey mentions Amnisos and a cave of Eileithyia, and Pausanias later described her shrine there and an image of her at Olympia.
In classical Greek the name appears as Eileithyia. The Iliad and Odyssey refer to her as the power who attends childbirth, sometimes as a group, the Eileithyiai. Hesiod's Theogony makes her a daughter of Zeus and Hera and sister of Ares and Hebe. She was later drawn close to Artemis, worshipped in some places as Artemis Eileithyia, and the Romans identified her with their own childbirth goddess, Juno Lucina. The spelling Ilithyia reached English through Latin and appears in English versions of classical texts.
How Popular is the Name Ilithyia?
Ilithyia 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 2021. Its best rank was #8,678 in 2021.
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 | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | #8,678 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2020 | #10,586 | 9 | 0.0006% |
| 2019 | #14,471 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2018 | #14,500 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2017 | #9,562 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2016 | #9,662 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2015 | #10,415 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2014 | #10,454 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2013 | #13,712 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2012 | #9,306 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2011 | #15,545 | 6 | 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.
Most Popular Girl Names That Start with I
How the Name Ilithyia Shapes Your Personality and Life?
Your tendency is to finish whatever you start. You like to use the pen or the needle (writing, fashion design etc). You are loving, compassionate, intuitive and humanitarian. Runs of luck, either good or bad, follow you. You are sympathetic, but at times might be touchy and oversensitive. You may have a gift for writing. You are intuitive and might be interested in the arts, drama or science.
Creative and outgoing, you are always looking for an opportunity to show your abilities, especially before audience. You are very flexible and like to feel appreciated. You are looking for chances to mix with others socially and to communicate your ideas. You like to talk and can easily relate to different cultures and concepts. The biggest challenge for you is uncertainty. Easily getting bored, you can move from one job to another, switch projects and lovers. The high creative force can lead you either to happiness or unhappiness. If you understand your goals, if you can make major decisions in life and follow it directly and straight up without worry and uncertainty, you are able to achieve great heights.
✦ Ilithyia's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Ilithyia's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.