Althea is an English female personal name, originally a variation of the Greek name Althaea.

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: healer, wholesome
• Pronunciation: stress on the first syllable (British) or second syllable (American) as a personal name

According to The Oxford English Dictionary:"Bot. althaea, a marsh mallow, f. [the Greek to heal.] A genus of the plants of which the Marsh Mallow and Hollyhock are species; by florists often extended to the genus Hibiscus."

In Greek mythology, Althea was the mother of Meleager, one of the Argonauts. At her son's birth, Meleager's life was held in a burning log, which Althea rescued from the fireplace and preserved. Meleager became a hero of renown, seemingly invincible in battle. However, when Meleager slew Althea's brothers, in rage and revenge, she cast the piece of wood back into the fire, causing her son's death (See also Althaea).

"Althea" is also the title of a Grateful Dead song written by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter.

A fictional pulsar from the science-fiction novel The Hercules Text by Jack McDevitt is called Althea.

Richard Lovelace used the name in a poem ("To Althea, From Prison") that John Milton later mocked in Lycidas.

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