The Rhea surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 8,219 people carried this name — #4,323 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 35,800 people counted. That is up 5% from 7,847 in 2000.

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Where the name comes from

The origin of the Rhea surname

Variant of Rea.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Rhea» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

In print

Rhea in American newspapers,
1902–1928.

Newspaper page from The Citizen=times carrying the name Rhea
The Citizen=times 1928-08-02
Newspaper page from The Washington Times carrying the name Rhea
The Washington Times 1902-03-26
Newspaper page from The Adair County News carrying the name Rhea
The Adair County News 1919-10-08

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 3,484 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Rhea in Australian newspapers,
1840s–1970s.

652 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Rhea. The most, 140, date from the 1910s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in South Australia, at 1.7 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 205
Victoria 131
South Australia 119
Queensland 95
Western Australia 57
Tasmania 16
ACT (Canberra) 15

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Rhea.

Who carried it

People named Rhea,
with a public archive behind them.

  • John Rhea
    John Rhea 1753–1832 · lawyer
  • Hortense Rhéa
    Hortense Rhéa 1844–1899 · actor
  • William Francis Rhea
    William Francis Rhea 1858–1931 · judge
  • Floyd Rhea
    Floyd Rhea 1920–2010 · American football player
  • Robert Rhea d. 1777
  • James Rhea 1701– · military personnel

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Rhea,
in the records of 4 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States443 records

443 records of the Rhea name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 298
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 121
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 10
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 7
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 4
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 2
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Samuel B. Rhea

    Born 1921 in Tennessee. Enlisted 1942 at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia; sales clerk. U.S. Air Force veteran of World War II; died 1989, buried at Andrew Johnson National Cemetery, Tennessee.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Scotty Henry Rhea

    Born 1951; from Granite Falls, North Carolina. U.S. Marine Corps, engineer equipment operator; killed in action 1970 in Quang Nam, South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A U.S. Army record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864
    Example: U.S. burial record, 1864
    Burial record Joseph Rhea

    U.S. Army veteran of World War I. Born 1892, died 1952; buried at Long Island National Cemetery, New York.

    U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)

Showing 3 of 443 records for Rhea in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain).

Canada3 records

3 records of the Rhea name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 2
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 1
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record David Ronald Rhea

    Died 1943 in Preston, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Elvira Catherine Rhea

    Died 1974 in Bridgewater, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, aged 48.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.

Showing 2 of 3 records for Rhea in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Australia3 records

3 records of the Rhea name in Australia Queensland State Archives indexes
  1. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Andrew Rhea

    Arrived in Queensland in 1885 aboard the New Guinea, aged 19.

    Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Charles Rhea

    Arrived in Queensland in 1928 aboard the Mamilius, aged 18.

    Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Harry Rhea

    Arrived in Queensland in 1928 aboard the Mamilius, aged 17.

    Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

France2 records

2 records of the Rhea name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Claude Hiram Rhea

    Born 1927 in the United States; died 1990 in Tremblay-en-France (Seine-Saint-Denis).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 1 of 2 records for Rhea in France.

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Rhea.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Rhea is.
A volume says what happened to it.

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