Tessica
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "consecrated to God".
Name Census estimates that about 214 living Americans carry the first name Tessica. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tessica today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tessica births was 1982 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tessica. 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
214
~ 1 in 1,601,656 Americans
Peak year
1982
20 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2006 SSA rank
#19,825
Tracked since 1970
Census
Tessica in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 185 people with the first name Tessica, which placed it at #40,305 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
#40,305
National first-name rank
People counted
185
185 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tessica
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tessica is White at 51.4%. The next largest groups are Black (27.0%) and Hispanic (10.8%). 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 Tessica 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 Tessica at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.4% · 95
- Black or African American27.0% · 50
- Hispanic or Latino10.8% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.8% · 7
- Two or more races3.8% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.2% · 6
Popularity
Tessica: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tessica from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 123 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
Tessica 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 Tessica during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tessica
The name Tessica is believed to have its origins in Ancient Greece, derived from the Greek word "tessares," meaning four. It is thought to have been given to children born as the fourth child in a family, or perhaps on the fourth day of the month.
In the early days, the name was often spelled as "Tessika" or "Tessike," with variations in the spelling being common across different regions of Greece. There are records of the name appearing in ancient texts and inscriptions dating back to the 5th century BCE.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Tessica can be found in the works of the Greek historian Herodotus, who mentions a woman by that name in his accounts of the Persian Wars. However, details about this individual are scarce.
During the Byzantine period, the name Tessica gained popularity among the Eastern Orthodox Christian communities. It is believed that several notable figures from this era bore the name, including a nun who lived in the 9th century and was known for her charitable works.
In the Middle Ages, the name spread across Europe, with variations such as "Tessina" and "Tessicca" being used in different regions. One notable figure from this time was Tessica of Gisors, a 12th-century French noblewoman who played a role in the political affairs of her time.
As the Renaissance period dawned, the name Tessica continued to be used, particularly in Italy and Greece. One famous bearer of the name was Tessica Gozzadini, an Italian scholar and poet who lived in the 16th century and was known for her contributions to the intellectual circles of her time.
In more recent centuries, the name Tessica has been less common, but there have been a few notable individuals who bore it. Tessica Stavrou was a Greek painter and sculptor who lived in the early 20th century and was celebrated for her works depicting scenes from Greek mythology.
It's worth noting that while the name Tessica has a rich history, it has never been among the most popular names in any particular region or time period. However, its unique origins and deep-rooted connections to ancient cultures have made it a distinctive and intriguing choice for parents over the centuries.
People
Tessica + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tessica 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
Tessica: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tessica?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 214 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tessica 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 1,601,656 US residents.
Is Tessica a common name?
We classify Tessica as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 229 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tessica most popular?
The single biggest year for Tessica was 1982, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tessica is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tessica in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 185 people with the name Tessica, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,305 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 Tessica 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 Tessica?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tessica appears almost entirely female. Of the 179 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 Tessica?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tessica is White at 51.4%. The next largest groups are Black (27.0%) and Hispanic (10.8%). 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 Tessica most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tessica in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.4% (95 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 Tessica in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tessica a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tessica 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 Tessica still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tessica 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 Tessica 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 named Tessica?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.