ninan.org

Teresa

Girls' name · Late 20th-century

Living in the US
~348,200 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#908 among girls
Births in 2025
291 417,209 since 1880
Typical age
62 years, median

Teresa popularity over time

Teresa rank by birth year, 1880–2025Teresa ranked #215 in 1880 and #908 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #18, in 1961.#100#1,000#908best #18 in 196118901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

The high point was 1961: 18,949 births recorded as Teresa. The name is already in use in 1880, where the data begins. Across the record, 34 years put Teresa in the top 100.

The 2025 position is #908, on 291 births. Over ten years the count has fallen 32%. Year on year the rank dropped by 48.

Babies named Teresa per yearPeaks at 18,949 births in 1961.18,949 in 1961018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Teresa?

An estimated 348,200 living Americans are called Teresa. That is out of 417,209 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Teresa?

Median age among living Teresas: 62. More of them were born in the 1960s than in any other decade. By the site’s era rules that makes Teresa a late 20th-century name.

Your Teresa

Ages of living people named TeresaHalf of living Teresas are older than 62 and half younger.median 62020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Teresa is most common

The name is concentrated in Maryland, at 1.6× the national rate. California, Virginia and Illinois follow.

Where Teresa is used more than average4 states use the name Teresa more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: 1.5× the national rateILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: 1.5× the national rateCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: 1.5× the national rateVAMaryland: 1.6× the national rateMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Teresa is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Maryland 77 1.6×
California 566 1.5×
Virginia 110 1.5×
Illinois 155 1.5×

Teresa in England and Wales

ONS recorded 23 births named Teresa in 2025, ranking it #1,362.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Teresa comes from

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.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Teresa

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Teresa of Ávila Roman Catholic saint 1515–1582 109
Teresa Teng Taiwanese ROC singer 1953–1995 81
Teresa Wright American actress 1918–2005 57
Teresa Palmer Australian actress, model, writer and producer 1986 45
Teresa Ribera Spanish politician 1969 31
Teresa Ciepły Polish sprinter and hurdler 1937–2006 28
Teresa Edwards American basketball player 1964 26
Teresa Carreño Venezuelan classical pianist 1853–1917 26
Photo credits (8)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 1,844 in 1946 to 2,809 in 1947 — 1.5 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Teresa

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/teresa.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).