Have you never met anyone named Letha before?  Well, that's not unusual.  One of the most frequent comments that I get when I tell someone my name is, "I've never heard that name before."  Letha happens to be a very old name, but it was never a popular name.  I happen to be named after my grandmother, which I think is probably how most Lethas come about.  When I was growing up in California, almost no one I ran into had ever heard of the name Letha before.  Now that I am living in the midwest, I do occassionally hear someone say, "Oh, that's my (aunt's, cousin's, etc.) name!"  I was very excited when I went into my local bank branch and one of the teller's names was Aletha.  Aletha is one of the close variations of Letha.  Some other variations are Leatha, Leitha, Latha, Lithia, Leith, Litha, Lethia, Oletha and Arletha.

The times that I have found the name Letha in baby name books, the definitions that I have been given have been either forgetfulness or oblivion.  It comes from the Lithe river in Greek mythology.  The Lithe river is the river that the dead go through to forget their old life so that they can go on to their next life.  I did not find out the meaning of my name until I was in college, and it gave me a good laugh.  I love the meaning of my name.  I sometimes tell people that it gives me a built in excuse for any mistake that I make.  After all, I'm just living up to my name.

If you are a Letha, let me know.  I would love to hear from other Lethas out there.  Also, I would find it interesting how you got to be named Letha.  Are you like me and named after a friend/relative, or did your parents pick your name from a baby name book?