# Tessa (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/tessa/  
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 | /ˈtɛsə/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 55,939 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 13 / 55,926 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,784, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Contraction of Teresa.

## 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 | 1,391 | 229 |
| 2012 | 1,366 | 233 |
| 2013 | 1,324 | 244 |
| 2014 | 1,527 | 221 |
| 2015 | 1,560 | 208 |
| 2016 | 1,395 | 230 |
| 2017 | 1,296 | 245 |
| 2018 | 1,329 | 245 |
| 2019 | 1,268 | 260 |
| 2020 | 1,135 | 281 |
| 2021 | 1,118 | 287 |
| 2022 | 973 | 332 |
| 2023 | 964 | 323 |
| 2024 | 1,036 | 303 |
| 2025 | 978 | 311 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 5 | 7,228 |
| 2004 | 8 | 8,838 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 59 | 665 |
| 2012 | 77 | 546 |
| 2013 | 62 | 652 |
| 2014 | 69 | 597 |
| 2015 | 62 | 656 |
| 2016 | 67 | 630 |
| 2017 | 45 | 855 |
| 2018 | 56 | 710 |
| 2019 | 55 | 703 |
| 2020 | 66 | 589 |
| 2021 | 60 | 640 |
| 2022 | 61 | 624 |
| 2023 | 55 | 657 |
| 2024 | 53 | 708 |
| 2025 | 56 | 667 |

## People named Tessa

- Tessa Thompson, American actress (born 1983)
- Tessa Virtue, Canadian ice dancer
- Tessa Sanderson, British javelin thrower (born 1956)
- Tessa Jowell, British politician (1947–2018)
- Tessa Worley, French alpine skier
- Tessa Violet, American singer
- Tessa Wullaert, Belgian footballer
- Tessa Khan, environmental lawyer
- Tessa Blanchard, American professional wrestler
- Tessa Gobbo, American rower
- Tessa Ferrer, American actress (born 1986)
- Tessa Appeldoorn, Dutch rower

## 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.