Teira
A feminine name of unknown origin meaning "bright" or "radiant".
Name Census estimates that about 280 living Americans carry the first name Teira. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Teira today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Teira births was 1990 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Teira. 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
280
~ 1 in 1,224,123 Americans
Peak year
1990
30 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2009 SSA rank
#12,361
Tracked since 1977
Popularity
Teira: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Teira from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 141 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Teira 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 Teira during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Teiras live
Origin
Meaning and history of Teira
The name Teira is believed to have its origins in the Basque region of Spain and France. It is a feminine name that is derived from the Basque word "tei," which means "lime tree" or "linden tree." The name is thought to have been used as a given name in this region as early as the 12th century.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Teira can be found in a medieval Basque manuscript from the 13th century. This document includes a list of names, and Teira is listed among them. It is possible that the name was given to girls born near or under a lime tree, as this was a common practice in many cultures at the time.
In the 14th century, there are records of a Basque woman named Teira Garcés de Huarte, who was a noblewoman from the Navarre region of Spain. She is mentioned in several historical documents from that time period, indicating that the name was in use among the nobility as well as commoners.
During the Renaissance period, the name Teira appeared in several literary works, including a play by the Spanish writer Lope de Vega. In his play "El Mejor Alcalde, el Rey" (The Best Mayor, the King), one of the characters is named Teira, suggesting that the name was still in use in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Another notable figure with the name Teira was Teira Izquierdo, a Spanish painter who lived in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. She was known for her religious paintings and worked in the Baroque style. Her works can be found in several churches and museums in Spain.
In more recent history, Teira Palma was a Cuban painter and artist who lived from 1904 to 1986. She was known for her vibrant and colorful paintings that depicted scenes from everyday life in Cuba. Her works are part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in Havana.
While the name Teira is not as common today as it once was, it has a rich history and cultural significance in the Basque region of Spain and France. Its connection to the lime tree and its use among various social classes and professions throughout history make it a unique and interesting name with a fascinating backstory.
People
Teira + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Teira 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
Teira: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Teira?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 280 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Teira 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 1,224,123 US residents.
Is Teira a common name?
We classify Teira as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 292 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Teira most popular?
The single biggest year for Teira was 1990, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Teira is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Teira a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Teira 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.