Atha
Feminine
Atha is given to both — 1,441 girls and 99 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Atha is probably a clipping and the likeliest parent is a name attached to one of the most consequential arguments in European history. Athanasius spent seventeen years in exile, across five separate banishments, over a dispute that turned on a single letter of a single Greek word, and the letter was an i.
How old is the name Atha?
Atha first appears in US birth records in 1882 — 143 years ago. The typical Atha alive today was born around 1922, making them about 103 years old. About 200 people named Atha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Atha most popular?
Atha peaked in 1899, reaching #814 nationally. See the whole 1899 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From A Greek name meaning undying to Atha
Our story of Atha
The word at issue described how the Son related to the Father. One party said of the same substance; the other said of like substance; and in Greek the two words differ by a single iota. Historians have been enjoying the smallness of the difference ever since, and it is where the English phrase about not one iota comes from. But the difference was not small in what it implied, and the argument ran for most of a century, taking in emperors, councils and street riots in Alexandria and Constantinople. Athanasius was on the winning side eventually and spent most of his career on the losing one, exiled five times as the imperial position shifted. His name means undying, which given the number of people who wanted him gone is reasonably apt.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No source can be established. It may be cut from Athanasia or Athalia, it may be a home-made formation of the kind American registers are full of, and it may be a surname. Each candidate gives a different answer and the spelling records none of them. The honest description is a short name from a particular period with no recoverable parent.
How the name formed
- A Greek name meaning undying
- Carried by a bishop exiled five times over one letter
- Athanasia and Athalia in later use
- Atha in American registers without an explanation
Pronouncing Atha
ATH-uh
Two syllables, stress on the first, with the voiceless th of thin. Some families say AY-thuh with a long first vowel instead, which the spelling permits and which sounds like a different name.
Nicknames for Atha
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1882
- Most girls named
- 192250 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #814reached in 1899
- Change vs 1967
- 0.0%5 in 1970, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Athas among us
people named Atha are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Atha sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is short, unusual and easy to say once the first vowel is settled.
- It works on the register for either child, which the record confirms.
- It has a genuine nineteenth-century paper trail rather than a modern reconstruction.
- The first vowel is genuinely ambiguous and strangers will guess.
- There is no meaning or origin to give, which is the accurate answer.
- It is very firmly of the late nineteenth century.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Atha to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Atha? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Atha
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Athas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Atha are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Atha in 2025?
- Atha is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Atha with classmates?
- Atha will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More A names
The most-given names starting with A, all years combined.
Anna#107 · Ashley#164 · Amanda#493 · Amy#257 · Angela#408 · Alice#65 · Ann#1076 · Andrea#235
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Atha? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Atha and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle