girl's name
Thaïs
tah-EES
- Origin French
- Gender Girl
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 100 (France)
- Births on record 21,122
France
#84
2025 births
Thaïs is a girl's name of Greek origin, borne by an Athenian courtesan who accompanied Alexander the Great and, by legend, urged the burning of Persepolis. It ranks eighty-fourth in France and is rising, though it is rare elsewhere.
- Thaïs is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in France in 2014, when 940 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 959 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1900.
Thaïs over time
Births per decade in France, 1900s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 70 |
| 1910s | 30 |
| 1920s | 25 |
| 1930s | 10 |
| 1940s | 5 |
| 1960s | 15 |
| 1970s | 30 |
| 1980s | 190 |
| 1990s | 945 |
| 2000s | 4,610 |
| 2010s | 8,330 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 4,500 |
What Thaïs means
Thaïs has no settled meaning. It is generally connected to a Greek word for a bandage or binding, and sometimes glossed as beloved or beautiful, but reference works differ and none can point to a firm derivation.
Where Thaïs comes from
Thaïs is a Greek name of uncertain sense, most often linked to a word for a bandage. Its bearer in history is Thais, an Athenian hetaira who traveled with Alexander's army and who, in Plutarch's account, proposed the burning of Persepolis at a drunken feast. A separate Saint Thais was an Egyptian courtesan who repented and became a desert ascetic, and it is she who carried the name into Christian use. Massenet's opera Thaïs of 1894, based on Anatole France's novel about her, gave the name its French currency and produced the Meditation for violin that remains its best-known music. The diaeresis marks the i as separately sounded.
Thaïs in use
Thaïs ranks eighty-fourth in France with about 620 births in 2025, and its peak in our records is 2020. The unaccented Thais is what other markets record, beyond 4,700 in England and Wales and 5,074 in the United States. Our data carries the name from 1900, and its French revival tracks the continuing performance of the Massenet opera rather than any modern fashion.
How popular is Thaïs?
In 2025, Thaïs was given to 615 babies in France, ranking #84 that year. It is one of the most popular names in France.
Where Thaïs is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
How Thaïs is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Thais | Thais is a spelling of Thaïs, used in the United States, where it ranks #5,074. | 9,397 |
Names that peaked alongside Thaïs
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Thaïs also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Thaïs over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Thaïs 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 Thaïs
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Thaïs — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Thaïs
What does the name Thaïs mean?
There is no settled meaning. It is generally linked to a Greek word for a bandage, sometimes glossed as beloved.
Who was Thais?
An Athenian courtesan with Alexander's army who, in Plutarch's account, urged the burning of Persepolis.
How do you pronounce Thaïs?
tah-EES, two syllables. The diaeresis marks the i as separately sounded.
Is Thaïs connected to an opera?
Yes. Massenet's Thaïs of 1894 gave the name its French currency and contains the well-known Meditation.
Is Thaïs a girl's or a boy's name?
Thaïs is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
When was Thaïs most popular?
Thaïs peaked in 2014, when 940 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Thaïs a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Thaïs currently ranks #84 in France. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.