| Thea | Dorothea | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Goddess | gift of God |
| Origin | Greek | greek |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | THEE-ah | dor-ə-THEE-ə |
| Syllables | 2 | 4 |
| First appeared | 1880 | 0 |
| Peak year | 2018 (1,209) | 1920 (1,110) |
| In 2025 | 867 | 0 |
| Trend | Rising | Vintage |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Thea | Dorothea |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 5,908 | 464 |
| 2010s | 6,408 | 345 |
| 2000s | 1,362 | 210 |
| 1990s | 952 | 299 |
| 1980s | 1,022 | 478 |
| 1970s | 1,008 | 768 |
| 1960s | 1,099 | 2,326 |
| 1950s | 1,027 | 3,008 |
| 1940s | 431 | 3,111 |
| 1930s | 207 | 4,180 |
| 1920s | 254 | 8,518 |
| 1910s | 157 | 7,750 |
| 1900s | 87 | 1,810 |
| 1890s | 105 | 807 |
| 1880s | 86 | 347 |
Thea means “goddess” in Greek and is also a short form of Dorothea.
From Greek Dorothea, combining doron 'gift' + theos 'God' — 'gift of God'. It is the exact reversal of the elements in Theodora/Theodore.
Thea is more popular than Dorothea today: about 867 US babies were given the name Thea in 2025, compared with 0 named Dorothea.
Thea means Goddess (Greek origin), while Dorothea means gift of God (greek origin).
In US records, Thea first appears in 1880 and Dorothea in 0, so Dorothea has the longer recorded history.