| Thea | Calliope | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Goddess | Beautiful voice |
| Origin | Greek | greek |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | THEE-ah | kuh-LY-uh-pee |
| Syllables | 2 | 4 |
| First appeared | 1880 | 1917 |
| Peak year | 2018 (1,209) | 2025 (682) |
| In 2025 | 867 | 682 |
| Trend | Rising | Near its peak |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Thea | Calliope |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 5,908 | 3,336 |
| 2010s | 6,408 | 2,339 |
| 2000s | 1,362 | 287 |
| 1990s | 952 | 55 |
| 1980s | 1,022 | 11 |
| 1970s | 1,008 | 5 |
| 1960s | 1,099 | 0 |
| 1950s | 1,027 | 10 |
| 1940s | 431 | 0 |
| 1930s | 207 | 5 |
| 1920s | 254 | 43 |
| 1910s | 157 | 7 |
| 1900s | 87 | 0 |
| 1890s | 105 | 0 |
| 1880s | 86 | 0 |
Thea means “goddess” in Greek and is also a short form of Dorothea.
From Greek Kalliopē, from kallos 'beauty' + ops 'voice', literally 'beautiful-voiced'. The name of the Muse of epic poetry; the 'beauty' root (kallos) is explicit.
Thea is more popular than Calliope today: about 867 US babies were given the name Thea in 2025, compared with 682 named Calliope.
Thea means Goddess (Greek origin), while Calliope means Beautiful voice (greek origin).
In US records, Thea first appears in 1880 and Calliope in 1917, so Thea has the longer recorded history.