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{{Short description|Feminine given name}}
{{about|the given name}}
{{Infobox given name2
| name = Althea
| image=
| image_size=
| caption=
| pronunciation= stress on the first syllable (British) or second syllable (American)
| gender = Female
| meaning = healer, wholesome
| language = Greek
| seealso = [[Thea (name)|Thea]], [[Tia (name)|Tia]]
}}

'''Althea''' ({{langx|ang|Alþea}}) is an English female given name. It is a variation of the Greek name ''[[Althaea (disambiguation)|Althaea]]'' (Αλθαια), which may be related to Greek {{lang|grc|ἀλθος}} ''althos'' ("healing").

[[Richard Lovelace (poet)|Richard Lovelace]] used the name in a poem ("[[To Althea, from Prison]]") that [[John Milton]] later alluded to in his own poem "[[Lycidas]]".<ref>Milton, John (1886). [[Homer Sprague|Homer Baxter Sprague]], ed. [https://books.google.com/books?id=xwo1AAAAMAAJ&dq=lycidas+althea&pg=RA1-PA15 "Milton's Lycidas"]. ''Paradise Lost, Books I and II''. Boston: Ginn & Co.</ref>

== Notable people ==

* [[Althea Braithwaite]] (1940–2020), English children's author, illustrator, publisher and glass artist
* [[Althea Bridges]] (born 1936), Australian opera singer and music teacher
* [[Althea Currier]] (born 1941), American glamor model and actress
* [[Althea Flynt]] (1953–1987), fourth wife of Larry Flynt
* [[Althea Gibson]] (1927–2003), American athlete 
* Althea Forrest, one half of vocal duo [[Althea & Donna]]
* [[Althea McNish]] (1924–2020), British textile designer of Trinidadian origin
* [[Althea G. Quimby]] (1858-1942), American temperance leader
* [[Althea Reinhardt]] (born 1996), Danish handball player
* [[Althea Thauberger]], Canadian artist
* [[Althea Wynne]] (1936–2012), English sculptor
* Althea Rae Janairo, actress aka [[Tia Carrere]]
* [[Altheia Jones-LeCointe]],  Trinidadian physician and research scientist, leader of the British Black Panther Movement

== See also ==
* "Althea", a song on the [[Grateful Dead]] studio album ''[[Go to Heaven]]''
* ''[[Althaea officinalis]]'', also called althea or marsh mallow, a perennial species indigenous to Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa used in herbalism and as an ornamental plant
* ''[[Hibiscus syriacus]]'', also called althea, rose of Sharon or rose mallow, a perennial species indigenous to East Asia used in herbalism and as an ornamental plant
* [[Cyclone Althea]] (1971)
* [[Ethinylestradiol/cyproterone acetate]], a birth control pill with brand name Althea

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{given name|cat=English feminine given names}}

[[Category:Feminine given names]]