Tesha
A feminine Hindu name meaning "shining" or "radiant".
Name Census estimates that about 1,666 living Americans carry the first name Tesha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tesha today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tesha births was 1978 (95 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tesha. 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 Tesha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 205,735 Americans
Peak year
1978
95 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2007 SSA rank
#20,311
Tracked since 1963
Census
Tesha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,624 people with the first name Tesha, which placed it at #8,806 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
#8,806
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,624 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
46.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tesha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tesha is Black at 46.6%. The next largest groups are White (39.3%) and Two or More Races (6.2%). 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 Tesha 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 Tesha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American46.6% · 756
- White39.3% · 638
- Two or more races6.2% · 101
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 60
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 40
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 29
Popularity
Tesha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tesha from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 768 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tesha 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 Tesha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Teshas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Tesha, while Ohio, Missouri, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 26 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tesha
The name Tesha has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language that was widely spoken in the Indian subcontinent. The name is believed to have derived from the Sanskrit word "tejas," which means "brilliance" or "radiance." This connection to light and brightness suggests that the name was originally associated with qualities such as luminosity, clarity, and intellectual prowess.
In ancient Hindu scriptures and texts, the name Tesha is occasionally mentioned in connection with various deities and mythological figures. However, it is difficult to pinpoint specific historical references or associations due to the antiquity of the name and the vast array of Sanskrit literature.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tesha can be traced back to the 7th century CE, when it was borne by a renowned Indian scholar and philosopher named Tesha Siṃha. Born in the present-day state of Uttar Pradesh, Tesha Siṃha was a prolific writer and made significant contributions to the fields of logic, epistemology, and metaphysics.
In the 11th century, the name Tesha gained further prominence through the life of Tesha Bhatta, a celebrated Sanskrit grammarian and linguist. Hailing from the region of present-day Karnataka, Tesha Bhatta authored several influential works on Sanskrit grammar and linguistics, including the widely acclaimed text "Vaiyākaraṇa-bhūṣaṇa."
Moving forward in history, the 16th century saw the rise of Tesha Kavi, a revered Marathi poet and literary figure from the Deccan region of India. Tesha Kavi's poetic compositions, known as "abhangas," were deeply spiritual and explored themes of devotion, self-realization, and the human condition.
In the realm of Indian classical music, the name Tesha finds its place in the legacy of Tesha Maseetalvadkar, a renowned Hindustani classical vocalist who lived in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Hailing from the city of Pune, Tesha Maseetalvadkar was a highly respected and influential figure in the Gwalior gharana (musical lineage).
Another notable bearer of the name Tesha was Tesha Sundaralingam, a Tamil scholar, writer, and activist who played a significant role in the Tamil renaissance movement in the early 20th century. Born in Sri Lanka in 1872, Tesha Sundaralingam made valuable contributions to the promotion and preservation of Tamil language and culture.
While these historical figures represent only a handful of individuals who bore the name Tesha, the name's rich heritage and associations with brilliance, radiance, and intellectual pursuits have endured through the centuries, reflecting the enduring influence of Sanskrit and Indian culture on the tapestry of global names and their meanings.
People
Tesha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tesha 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
Tesha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tesha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,666 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tesha 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 205,735 US residents.
Is Tesha a common name?
We classify Tesha as "Rare". It ranks above 92.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,804 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tesha most popular?
The single biggest year for Tesha was 1978, when 95 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tesha is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tesha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,624 people with the name Tesha, or 0.54 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,806 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 Tesha 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 Tesha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tesha appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,633 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 Tesha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tesha is Black at 46.6%. The next largest groups are White (39.3%) and Two or More Races (6.2%). 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 Tesha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tesha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.6% (756 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 Tesha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tesha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tesha 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 Tesha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tesha 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 Tesha 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 Tesha as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Tesha on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.