# Thecla (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/thecla/  
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 | “god”, “god's”, “godly”, “glory” |
| Pronunciation | /θɛklə/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Theckla, Thekla |
| US babies named this | 281 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 0 / 281 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 3, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Late Latin Thecla, from Koine Greek Θέκλα (Thékla), chiefly for St Thecla, an apocryphal early Christian martyr whose name might derive from hellenicization of a local Luwic name or from some contraction of θεο- (theo-, “God, God's, godly”) + -κλῆς (-klês, “glory”).

## What it means

Thecla is grouped under famous and god.

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1925 | 7 | 4,387 |
| 1926 | 5 | 5,539 |
| 1928 | 6 | 4,671 |
| 1930 | 10 | 3,034 |
| 1931 | 5 | 4,901 |
| 1935 | 5 | 4,829 |
| 1936 | 6 | 4,129 |
| 1939 | 5 | 4,885 |
| 1948 | 5 | 5,969 |
| 1955 | 5 | 6,642 |
| 1957 | 5 | 6,928 |
| 1958 | 6 | 6,045 |
| 1959 | 7 | 5,520 |
| 1962 | 6 | 6,506 |
| 1986 | 5 | 12,697 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3 | 5,927 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: تَقْلَا
- Armenian: Թեկղի
- Finnish: Tekla
- French: Thècle
- German: Thekla
- Greek: Θέκλα
- Icelandic: Tekla
- Italian: Tecla
- Latvian: Tekla
- Polish: Tekla
- Russian: Фёкла
- Spanish: Tecla
- Swedish: Tekla

## People named Thecla

- Thecla Boesen, Danish actress (1910–1996)

## 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.