# Teresa (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/teresa/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Greek |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /təˈɹiː.sə/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | Terri, Terry, Tess, Tessa, Teri, Terrie |
| Variant spellings | Theresa |
| US babies named this | 417,209 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 1,165 / 416,044 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 792, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

First recorded as the name of a fourth-century Spanish saint. Of obscure origin; suggestions include Therasia or Thera, ancient name of the Greek island Thira.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 544 | 535 |
| 2012 | 472 | 607 |
| 2013 | 437 | 650 |
| 2014 | 391 | 718 |
| 2015 | 429 | 668 |
| 2016 | 437 | 670 |
| 2017 | 397 | 723 |
| 2018 | 347 | 791 |
| 2019 | 349 | 796 |
| 2020 | 366 | 747 |
| 2021 | 342 | 815 |
| 2022 | 320 | 868 |
| 2023 | 322 | 843 |
| 2024 | 314 | 864 |
| 2025 | 291 | 911 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 11 | 3,792 |
| 1980 | 13 | 3,411 |
| 1981 | 15 | 3,016 |
| 1982 | 21 | 2,414 |
| 1983 | 14 | 3,212 |
| 1984 | 18 | 2,696 |
| 1985 | 12 | 3,779 |
| 1986 | 8 | 5,281 |
| 1987 | 12 | 3,934 |
| 1988 | 7 | 6,354 |
| 1989 | 12 | 4,495 |
| 1990 | 7 | 7,103 |
| 1992 | 6 | 8,346 |
| 1993 | 5 | 10,006 |
| 1995 | 10 | 5,876 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 19 | 1,545 |
| 2012 | 38 | 955 |
| 2013 | 27 | 1,253 |
| 2014 | 21 | 1,456 |
| 2015 | 26 | 1,279 |
| 2016 | 32 | 1,086 |
| 2017 | 31 | 1,105 |
| 2018 | 24 | 1,343 |
| 2019 | 21 | 1,439 |
| 2020 | 21 | 1,449 |
| 2021 | 22 | 1,402 |
| 2022 | 20 | 1,501 |
| 2023 | 22 | 1,410 |
| 2024 | 22 | 1,449 |
| 2025 | 23 | 1,362 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: تْيْرْيْزَا
- Armenian: Թերեզա
- Catalan: Teresa
- Chinese: 特蕾莎, 特雷莎, 特麗薩 /特丽萨, 特里薩
- Czech: Tereza
- Danish: Therese
- Dutch: Trees
- Esperanto: Tereza
- Finnish: Teresa
- French: Thérèse
- Georgian: ტერეზა
- German: Theresa, Theresia
- Greek: Θηρεσία
- Hebrew: תרזה
- Hungarian: Teréz, Terézia
- Irish: Treasa
- Italian: Teresa
- Japanese: テレサ
- Korean: 테레사
- Latvian: Terēze

## People named Teresa

- Teresa Wright, American actress (1918–2005)
- Teresa Palmer, Australian actress, model, writer and producer (born 1986)
- Teresa Claramunt, Catalan Spanish anarcho-syndicalist, editor
- Teresa Edwards, American basketball player (born 1964)
- Teresa Brewer, American pop singer (1931-2007)
- Teresa Stadlober, Austrian cross-country skier
- María Teresa Ruiz, Chilean astronomer
- Teresa Graves, American actress and singer (1948-2002)
- Teresa of the Andes, Chilean nun of the Discalced Carmelite Order
- Teresa Ann Savoy, British-born actress (1955-2017)
- Teresa Forcades, Catalan Benedictine nun, theologian, physician and activist
- Teresa Stolz, Czech opera singer

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.