Tevita
Masculine · “Beloved”
Tevita is David in Tongan, and the shape of the change tells you about the language: Tongan has no d and no consonant clusters and no words ending in a consonant, so Dāwīd becomes Tevita, three open syllables with the sounds Tongan actually has.
How old is the name Tevita?
Tevita first appears in US birth records in 1979 — 46 years ago. The typical Tevita alive today was born around 2005, making them about 20 years old. About 800 people named Tevita are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Tevita most popular?
Tevita peaked in 1994, reaching #2685 nationally. Today it ranks #5399, 2,714 places below that high. See the whole 1994 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Dāwīd to Tevita
The story of Tevita
Wesleyan missionaries reached Tonga in the 1820s and the kingdom converted through the 1830s under Tāufaʻāhau, who took the baptismal name George. The Bible was translated into Tongan, and the whole cast of biblical names entered the language in adapted form: Sione for John, Sione's cousin Siosaia for Josiah, Mele for Mary, Tevita for David. These are now ordinary Tongan names and have been for six generations. American records show Tevita from the 1970s, with Tongan and Tongan-American communities in Utah, California and Hawaii, and a peak in 1994; the name is also common among Tongan rugby players, which has given it international visibility.
Meaning
Beloved
Tevita is the Tongan form of David, from Hebrew Dāwīd, generally read as beloved. The reading is settled and belongs to the Hebrew name. The Tongan form is a regular phonological adaptation: d becomes t, the vowels are separated into open syllables, and a final vowel is added, because Tongan words cannot end in a consonant.
How the name formed
- Dāwīd
- David
- Tevita
Related forms: Tevita · Tevita · Tavita · Rāwiri · David
Pronouncing Tevita
teh-VEE-tah
Three syllables, all open, stress on the second. Tongan gives every vowel a full value and no syllable is reduced, which is the main thing English speakers change.
Nicknames for Tevita
Moderate
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
- 1979
- Most boys named
- 201631 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2685reached in 1994
- Change vs 2024
- −15.0%17 in 2025, from 20
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.
Tevita in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Tevita in Tongan — same name
- Tevita in Fijian — same name
- Tavita in Samoan — spelling variant
- Rāwiri in Māori — related form
- David in Hebrew — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Utah, Hawaii.
Tevitas among us
people named Tevita are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 100,475 born in 2025 was named Tevita
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 Marck test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Tevita's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Marck climbed just as high around 1960, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Marck's path sketches the road Tevita is walking now.
Tevita 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
Tevita beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Tevita in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is David, with all that name's history, in a form nobody else in the room will have.
- The meaning is settled and needs no explanation.
- Dave is available in English-speaking settings.
- It is unfamiliar outside Pacific Islander communities and will be misspelled.
- English speakers reduce the vowels, which flattens the Tongan shape.
- Tevita and Tavita differ by one letter and by one island group.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Tevita
Masculine · #5399 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Tevitas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Tevita are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Tevita in 2025?
- Tevita ranks #5399 among US boy names in 2025, with 17 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Tevita?
- About 1 in every 100,475 US boys born in 2025 was named Tevita — 17 in all.
- Will my child share the name Tevita with classmates?
- Tevita will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Tevita
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Frazier#5399 · Franz#5399 · Demetrio#5399 · Rolan#5399 · Rayvon#5399 · Riddick#5399 · Laramie#5399 · Soloman#5399
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Tevita? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Tevita and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
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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