Teresa
Feminine
Teresa is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 416,044 girls against 1,165 boys since 1880. See Teresa as a boy name
Teresa and Theresa are counted as two names in the American record and they are one. The h is a Latin and English addition that no other language uses; Spain, Italy and Poland all write it without one, and the two spellings are said identically everywhere.
How old is the name Teresa?
Teresa was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Teresa alive today was born around 1963, making them about 62 years old. About 347,000 people named Teresa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Teresa most popular?
Teresa peaked in 1961, reaching #18 nationally. Today it ranks #908, 890 places below that high. See the whole 1961 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Teresa
The Teresa who made the name famous spent twenty years founding convents out of a covered cart. She was in her late forties when she began, in poor health, and she traveled the roads of Castile in a mule-drawn wagon setting up seventeen houses, arguing with bishops, town councils, landlords and her own order, negotiating leases, and writing constantly; she once observed that if this was how God treated his friends it was no wonder he had so few. She was investigated by the Inquisition, told to write her own life so that it could be examined, and produced one of the great books in Spanish. The traveling is the part usually left out.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The origin has never been established. The name appears first in Spain and Portugal, and the proposals connect it to a Greek word for summer, to an island, or to something in the pre-Roman languages of Iberia; none has carried the field. It is unusual for a name this widespread to have no agreed meaning.
Pronouncing Teresa
tuh-REE-suh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. Spanish and Italian say teh-REH-sah with fuller vowels at each end; the h in the English spelling is silent in every version and always has been.
Nicknames for Teresa
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 196018,839 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #18reached in 1961
- Change vs 2022
- −9.1%291 in 2025, from 320
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Teresa in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Teresa in Spanish — same name
- Teresa in Italian — same name
- Teresa in Polish — same name
- Therese in French — same name
- Theresia in German — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Teresas among us
people named Teresa are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 5,523 born in 2025 was named Teresa
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Catherine test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Teresa's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Catherine climbed just as high around 1914, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Catherine's path sketches the road Teresa is walking now.
Teresa sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Teresa is headed
Teresa should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Teresa beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Teresa in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- This is the spelling used by every language except English, so it travels without adjustment.
- Four short forms in four registers, from the brisk Terry to the Spanish Tere.
- It has been in continuous use across Europe for eight hundred years.
- The record carries it for boys in small numbers, so it is not quite an absolute signal.
- In America the h spelling is commoner and will be added by strangers.
- There is no meaning to give a child, which surprises people who expect one.
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What they receive
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Teresa
Feminine · #908 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Teresas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 347,000 people named Teresa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Teresa in 2025?
- Teresa ranks #908 among US girl names in 2025, with 291 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Teresa?
- About 1 in every 5,523 US girls born in 2025 was named Teresa — 291 in all.
- Will my child share the name Teresa with classmates?
- Teresa will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Teresa
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Micah#908 · Greta#908 · Stormi#908 · Nataly#907 · Kollyns#904 · Bennett#912 · Rayne#904 · Khalani#904
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Teresa? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Teresa and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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