Meaning & origin
Where it comes from
A possible origin is Greek, although the derivation remains uncertain.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1961. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Medea through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 202
- 0 boys · 202 girls
- Most popular year
- 1975
- 14 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 7 in 2008. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for girls was 14 in 1975. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 352 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Medea’s family of names
Medea has a related form in Media. Medea has a related form in Madora. Medea has a related form in Medeah.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 7
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Medea
- Medea BenjaminAmerican political activist and authorborn 1952
- Medea JaparidzeGeorgian–Soviet actress (1923–1994)
- Medea AbrahamyanArmenian cellist1932–2021
- Medea ChakhavaGeorgian actress (1921–2009)
- Medea AmiranashviliSoviet opera singer and music educator1930–2023
- Medea FignerItalian Russian opera singer (1859–1952)
- Medea NorsaItalian classical philologist and papyrologist (1877–1952)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Medea, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Mania
Mania is used as a given name and a surname. Mania is connected with Maria.
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Hermia
“a messenger of the gods”
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Phaedra
Phaedra is a feminine given name from Latin, ultimately from Ancient Greek.
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Dory
“dorian woman” · “a gift of God”
>99% girls
Uranus
Uranus is a given name from Ancient Greek. It is used in Albanian.
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Dea
“resembling a goddess”
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Corinna
“a spear-wielding woman”
>99% girls
Cora
“one who makes cord” · “of the heart”
>99% girls