We are thinking of the name [name_f]Rhea[/name_f]/[name_f]Rheya[/name_f] (spelling not important).
But I can’t help thinking it will become popular really soon.
All the little girls at playgroups seem to be called -ya or -la names: [name_f]Amelia[/name_f], [name_f]Olivia[/name_f], [name_f]Isabella[/name_f], [name_f]Isla[/name_f], [name_f]Leila[/name_f], [name_f]Lara[/name_f], [name_f]Leia[/name_f], etc.
Although [name_f]Rheya[/name_f] isn’t showing up on the charts yet, I can’t help thinking it will start to be used by people wanting this sound but wanting to avoid the really popular names.
I don’t want to pick it, thinking it’s unusual, only to find it has become common among her age group.
I always thought [name_f]Rhea[/name_f] was pronounced [name_u]Ray[/name_u] or [name_f]Ree[/name_f]-uh. Either way its not popular yet. Certainly not in that overly annoying way by a long shot.
[name_f]Thea[/name_f] and [name_f]Freya[/name_f] are becoming more popular, so I don’t think your concerns are unfounded, but I doubt it’s one that will ever become overly popular. If anything, it might blend in or get confused with the recent surge of girls named [name_f]Aria[/name_f]/[name_u]Arya[/name_u] because of the similarity in sound.
We called our daughter [name_f]Rheya[/name_f] ([name_u]Ray[/name_u]-aa)and lived in [name_u]London[/name_u] now in the US and I’m Austrian and our biggest ‘problem’ is that we have to repeat the name as no one is familiar with it. We have yet to encounter another [name_f]Rheya[/name_f]. We also chose it because it is a classic name yet unpopular so don’t want to encourage you but at the same time, I can confirm it is not on the rise from what I can tell.
But felictiysmoak is not wrong in that there is a similar ancient Greek word-stem - so that’s your call. It didn’t bother us as it is neither spelled nor pronounced similar and the actual meaning of it is nice too…
Although [name_f]Thea[/name_f] is popular, I don’t see [name_f]Rhea[/name_f] joining her anytime soon. I think you’ll be safe using it without the possibility of her sharing her name with a classmate, if that is your concern.
This is my surname (pronounced [name_f]Ree[/name_f]-uh), though it’s spelt differently. It is not very popular as a surname, and I’ve never heard it as a first name, so I don’t think you have to worry about popularity. However, I would strongly advise AGAINST using it! I HATE my surname - it does not have a pretty sound, no-one can spell or pronounce it (always got called [name_u]Ray[/name_u] or [name_f]Ree[/name_f]!) and I got lots of diarrhea jokes as a kid! [name_f]Thea[/name_f] or [name_f]Freya[/name_f] are much prettier options!
I dont think its getting too popular at all. I would pronounce [name_f]Rhea[/name_f] as [name_f]Ria[/name_f] and [name_f]Rheya[/name_f] as [name_u]Ray[/name_u]-uh though. But I dont think either of them are becoming very popular. I think [name_f]Rheya[/name_f] is gorgeous!
but at the same time, I can confirm it is not on the rise from what I can tell.