Tehya
A Hebrew name meaning "revived" or "reborn".
Name Census estimates that about 2,017 living Americans carry the first name Tehya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tehya today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tehya births was 1998 (164 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tehya. 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.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 169,933 Americans
Peak year
1998
164 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,875
Tracked since 1989
Popularity
Tehya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tehya from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,024 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tehya 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 Tehya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tehyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 24 states and territories. California, Texas, Oregon recorded the most babies named Tehya, while South Dakota, Oklahoma, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 31 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tehya
The name Tehya is believed to have its origins in the Hebrew language, and it is thought to have been derived from the Hebrew word "chayah," which means "life" or "to live." This name is therefore associated with the concepts of vitality, existence, and the celebration of life itself.
Tehya is a feminine name, and its earliest recorded use dates back to ancient times in the Middle East, particularly in the region that is now known as Israel and Palestine. The name is found in various historical and religious texts from this region, including the Hebrew Bible and other ancient Jewish writings.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Tehya was Tehya bat Avraham, a Jewish scholar and poet who lived in the 12th century CE in Spain. She was renowned for her expertise in Hebrew literature and her contributions to the field of Jewish studies.
Another notable figure with the name Tehya was Tehya Lerner, a Zionist activist and one of the founders of the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement. She was born in 1900 in what was then the Russian Empire and played a significant role in the establishment of the Kibbutz movement in Palestine.
In the 20th century, Tehya Feldman was a prominent figure in the Zionist movement and the establishment of the State of Israel. She was born in 1899 in Ukraine and became a member of the Jewish underground resistance during World War II, helping to rescue Jews from the Holocaust.
The name Tehya also appeared in the works of renowned Jewish authors and poets, such as Hayim Nahman Bialik, who included a character named Tehya in his famous poem "Al HaShchitah" (On the Slaughter).
Another notable figure with the name Tehya was Tehya Kushner, a Russian-born Israeli artist and sculptor who lived from 1904 to 1988. Her works, which often explored themes of the human form and the Jewish experience, are widely celebrated in the art world.
While the name Tehya has its roots in ancient Hebrew culture and tradition, it has also gained popularity in more recent times, particularly among Jewish communities around the world. However, it is important to note that the historical and cultural significance of this name lies primarily in its connection to the rich tapestry of Jewish history and literature.
People
Tehya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tehya 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
Tehya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tehya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,017 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tehya 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 169,933 US residents.
Is Tehya a common name?
We classify Tehya as "Rare". It ranks above 93.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,051 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tehya most popular?
The single biggest year for Tehya was 1998, when 164 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tehya is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Tehya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tehya 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.
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.