girl's name
Rhonda
RON-duh
- Origin Welsh
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 6
- Popularity Rare
- Births on record 209,195
Ireland
#549
1996 births
Rhonda is a girl's name from a Welsh river valley, and the great spear reading usually given for it is wrong — the Rhondda is named for its own noisiness, not for a weapon. It fell from 10,981 births to 19.
- Rhonda is a name of Welsh origin.
- Peaked in 1965, when 10,981 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 174,520 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1910.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Rhonda over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1910s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1910s | 42 |
| 1920s | 71 |
| 1930s | 377 |
| 1940s | 4,835 |
| 1950s | 59,940 |
| 1960s | 93,863 |
| 1970s | 38,100 |
| 1980s | 8,608 |
| 1990s | 1,948 |
| 2000s | 549 |
| 2010s | 240 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 85 |
What Rhonda means
Rhonda means noisy, from the Welsh river that gives it its name. The great spear reading circulating widely comes from a misreading of the Welsh elements and is not supported.
Where Rhonda comes from
Rhonda comes from the Rhondda, a river and valley in south Wales, whose name derives from a Welsh word meaning noisy or babbling — the river being fast and loud. The gloss great spear that most references give appears to come from reading the name as rhon, a spear, joined to an intensifier, which does not fit the river's documented name. The valley was one of the densest coal-mining districts in the world at its peak. The name's American life is entirely twentieth-century and owes a good deal to the Beach Boys' Help Me, Rhonda in 1965 — the exact year it peaked.
Rhonda in use
Rhonda peaked in the United States in 1965, when 10,981 babies were registered — the same year Help Me, Rhonda reached number one — and now charts in exactly one of the six markets we track, at 6125th on 19 births. That is a fall by a factor of roughly 578, the seventh-steepest in our data, and it places the name with Debra, Cathy, Peggy, Gail, Debbie, Cheryl and Tammy in the mid-century American cohort whose declines are the sharpest we record.
How popular is Rhonda?
In 2025, Rhonda was given to 19 babies in the United States. It is a rare choice.
Where Rhonda is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Rhonda
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Rhonda also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Rhonda over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Rhonda
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Rhonda in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Rhonda
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Rhonda — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Rhonda
What does the name Rhonda mean?
Noisy — from the Welsh river Rhondda, named for being fast and loud. The great spear reading is not supported.
Is Rhonda a Welsh name?
It comes from a Welsh river and valley, though its use as a given name is American.
Did the Beach Boys song affect it?
Help Me, Rhonda reached number one in 1965, the exact year the name peaked.
How popular is Rhonda?
6125th in the United States on 19 births, down from 10,981 in 1965.
How many syllables are in Rhonda?
Rhonda has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Rhonda?
Rhonda is usually shortened to Ronnie.
Is Rhonda a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Rhonda currently ranks #6,125 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.