Tabitha
A feminine name of Aramaic origin meaning "gazelle" or "beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 55,468 living Americans carry the first name Tabitha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tabitha today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tabitha births was 1978 (2,325 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tabitha. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Tabitha with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Tabitha is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 146 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1980s, recent registration numbers for Tabitha have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
55K
~ 1 in 6,179 Americans
Peak year
1978
2,325 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
1993 SSA rank
#1,519
Tracked since 1880
Census
Tabitha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 50,191 people with the first name Tabitha, which placed it at #897 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#897
National first-name rank
People counted
50K
50,191 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
16.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tabitha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tabitha is White at 73.7%. The next largest groups are Black (11.6%) and Hispanic (7.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Tabitha described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Tabitha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.7% · 37,015
- Black or African American11.6% · 5,847
- Hispanic or Latino7.3% · 3,662
- Two or more races5.1% · 2,573
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 596
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 498
Gender
Gender distribution for Tabitha
Out of the 59,170 babies given the name Tabitha since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Tabitha as a male name
- Ranked #9,973 in 1993
- 5 male births in 1993
- Peak: 1978 (15 births)
Tabitha as a female name
- Ranked #1,519 in 2024
- 142 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1978 (2,310 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tabitha appears almost entirely female. Of the 50,189 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Tabitha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tabitha from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 19,660 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tabitha by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Tabitha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tabithas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Texas, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Tabitha, while Vermont, Wyoming, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,104 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tabitha
The name Tabitha has its origins in the Aramaic language, with the earliest known use dating back to ancient times in the Middle East. It is derived from the Aramaic word "tsebiyah," which means "gazelle" or "doe." The name likely emerged as a term of endearment, likening the grace and beauty of a young woman to that of a graceful gazelle.
In the New Testament of the Bible, the name Tabitha is mentioned in the Book of Acts, where it refers to a woman named Dorcas, a disciple who lived in Joppa (modern-day Jaffa, Israel). She was known for her charitable works and was raised from the dead by the apostle Peter, who called her by her Aramaic name, Tabitha.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Tabitha was Tabitha of Bethania, a 4th-century Christian martyr who lived in Bethania, near Jerusalem. She is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.
In the 17th century, the name Tabitha gained popularity among Puritans in England and later in the American colonies. It was seen as a virtuous and biblical name, reflecting the values of the Puritan movement.
Notable individuals named Tabitha throughout history include:
1. Tabitha Babbitt (1784-1853), an American folk artist and painter known for her portraits and still-life paintings.
2. Tabitha Cadbury (1766-1832), an English Quaker and philanthropist who established the Cadbury chocolate company with her husband, John Cadbury.
3. Tabitha King (born 1949), an American writer and the wife of acclaimed author Stephen King.
4. Tabitha Soren (born 1967), an American photographer and former MTV News correspondent.
5. Tabitha St. Germain (born 1957), a Canadian voice actress known for her work in various animated series and video games.
The name Tabitha has maintained a steady presence throughout history, appreciated for its biblical roots and its association with grace, beauty, and charitable deeds. While its popularity may have fluctuated over time, it remains a beloved name with a rich cultural heritage.
People
Tabitha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tabitha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Tabitha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tabitha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 55,468 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tabitha going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 6,179 US residents.
Is Tabitha a common name?
We classify Tabitha as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 59,170 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tabitha most popular?
The single biggest year for Tabitha was 1978, when 2,325 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tabitha is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tabitha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 50,191 people with the name Tabitha, or 16.62 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #897 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Tabitha in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Tabitha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tabitha appears almost entirely female. Of the 50,189 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Tabitha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tabitha is White at 73.7%. The next largest groups are Black (11.6%) and Hispanic (7.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Tabitha most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tabitha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.7% (37,015 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Tabitha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tabitha a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Tabitha in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Tabitha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tabitha in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Tabitha can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Tabitha?
Find out how many Americans are named Tabitha on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.