Teretha
A feminine name derived from the Greek word "tharos", meaning courage or bravery.
Name Census estimates that about 376 living Americans carry the first name Teretha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Teretha today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Teretha births was 1952 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Teretha. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Teretha is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Terethas were born before 1970.
People living today
376
~ 1 in 911,581 Americans
Peak year
1952
26 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
1982 SSA rank
#10,408
Tracked since 1914
Census
Teretha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 409 people with the first name Teretha, which placed it at #23,820 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
#23,820
National first-name rank
People counted
409
409 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
90.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Teretha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Teretha is Black at 90.0%. The next largest groups are White (5.9%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Teretha 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 Teretha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American90.0% · 368
- White5.9% · 24
- Two or more races3.2% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 4
Popularity
Teretha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Teretha from the 1910s through to the 1980s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 181 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Teretha 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 Teretha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Terethas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Mississippi, South Carolina, Arkansas recorded the most babies named Teretha, while Georgia, Arkansas, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Teretha
The name Teretha is a unique and intriguing moniker with roots that can be traced back to ancient times. Its precise origin remains shrouded in mystery, but linguistic scholars speculate that it may have derived from the Greek word "therapeuo," which translates to "to serve" or "to minister." This connection suggests that the name may have held significance in religious or spiritual contexts.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Teretha can be found in the writings of the renowned Greek philosopher Plato. In his dialogues, he mentions a woman by this name, though little is known about her historical significance. However, the mere inclusion of the name in Plato's works indicates that it was in use during the 4th century BCE in ancient Greece.
As the centuries passed, the name Teretha seemingly faded from prominence, only to resurface in the Middle Ages. In the 12th century, a Benedictine nun named Teretha of Wilton gained recognition for her piety and dedication to the monastic life. Her existence is documented in the annals of the Wilton Abbey, where she resided until her passing in 1170.
Fast forward to the Renaissance period, and we encounter Teretha Agnesi, an Italian mathematician and philosopher born in 1718. Agnesi made significant contributions to the field of mathematics, particularly in the study of differential and integral calculus. Her work, "Analytical Institutions," published in 1748, garnered widespread acclaim and cemented her place in history as a pioneering female intellectual.
In the realm of literature, the name Teretha found its way into the works of the renowned British novelist Jane Austen. In her novel "Sense and Sensibility," published in 1811, one of the minor characters bears the name Teretha. While her role in the story is brief, Austen's inclusion of the name suggests its continued use during the early 19th century.
Lastly, we cannot overlook the historical figure of Teretha Drummond, a prominent American abolitionist and women's rights activist born in 1825. Drummond dedicated her life to fighting against slavery and advocating for equal rights, traveling extensively to deliver speeches and rallying support for the cause. Her unwavering commitment to social justice left an indelible mark on the abolitionist movement and the fight for equality.
While the name Teretha may not be as widely recognized today as some other monikers, its rich history and diverse representation across various fields and eras make it a fascinating subject of study. From ancient Greece to the Renaissance and beyond, this name has woven itself into the tapestry of human civilization, carrying with it the stories and legacies of remarkable individuals who have left their mark on the world.
People
Teretha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Teretha 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
Teretha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Teretha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 376 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Teretha 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 911,581 US residents.
Is Teretha a common name?
We classify Teretha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 665 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Teretha most popular?
The single biggest year for Teretha was 1952, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Teretha is about 66 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Teretha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 409 people with the name Teretha, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,820 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 Teretha 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 Teretha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Teretha appears almost entirely female. Of the 406 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Teretha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Teretha is Black at 90.0%. The next largest groups are White (5.9%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Teretha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Teretha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.0% (368 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 Teretha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Teretha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Teretha 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 Teretha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Teretha 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 Teretha 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 have Teretha as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Teretha, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.