Theresa
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "huntress" or "harvester".
Name Census estimates that about 241,068 living Americans carry the first name Theresa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Theresa today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Theresa births was 1961 (11,990 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Theresa. 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 Theresa with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Theresa is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 1,218 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1960s, recent registration numbers for Theresa have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
241K
~ 1 in 1,422 Americans
Peak year
1961
11,990 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
1991 SSA rank
#1,499
Tracked since 1880
Census
Theresa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 278,865 people with the first name Theresa, which placed it at #192 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
#192
National first-name rank
People counted
279K
278,865 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
92.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Theresa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Theresa is White at 76.7%. The next largest groups are Black (10.0%) and Hispanic (7.2%). 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 Theresa 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 Theresa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.7% · 213,852
- Black or African American10.0% · 27,983
- Hispanic or Latino7.2% · 20,127
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 7,646
- Two or more races2.6% · 7,235
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 2,022
Gender
Gender distribution for Theresa
Out of the 405,689 babies given the name Theresa since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Theresa as a male name
- Ranked #9,500 in 1991
- 5 male births in 1991
- Peak: 1963 (41 births)
Theresa as a female name
- Ranked #1,499 in 2024
- 145 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1961 (11,959 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Theresa appears almost entirely female. Of the 278,873 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Theresa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Theresa from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 97,409 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Theresa 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 Theresa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Theresas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, California recorded the most babies named Theresa, while Wyoming, Utah, Idaho recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7,620 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Theresa
Theresa is a feminine given name derived from the Greek name Thérèsè, which itself originates from the ancient Greek island of Therasia in the Mediterranean Sea. The name is believed to have emerged during the classical period of ancient Greece, sometime between the 5th and 4th centuries BCE.
The name Therasia is thought to be derived from the Greek word "theriston," meaning "to harvest" or "to reap." This connection to the agricultural cycle likely stems from the island's fertile lands and importance as a producer of crops and provisions for the region. Over time, the name evolved into the more familiar form of Theresa.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Theresa can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, who mentions a woman named Theresa in his work "The Republic." However, it wasn't until the advent of Christianity that the name gained widespread popularity.
In the 16th century, the name Theresa became closely associated with Saint Teresa of Ávila, a prominent Spanish mystic, author, and reformer of the Carmelite Order. Born in 1515, Saint Teresa played a pivotal role in the Catholic Reformation and was later canonized in 1622. Her influence and the widespread veneration of her teachings contributed significantly to the dissemination of the name across Europe and beyond.
Another notable figure bearing the name Theresa was Marie Thérèse of France, known as Madame Royale, the daughter of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Born in 1778, she survived the French Revolution and lived a tumultuous life, eventually dying in exile in 1851.
In the 19th century, Theresa Bernarda Cabarrús, better known as Madame Tallien, was a prominent figure during the French Revolution. Born in 1773, she was a renowned salonnière and influential socialite who played a significant role in the events leading up to the Reign of Terror.
The name Theresa also holds historical significance in the realm of literature, with notable writers such as Theresa Rebeck, an American playwright and novelist born in 1958, and Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, a Korean-American writer and artist who lived from 1951 to 1982.
Throughout history, the name Theresa has been borne by numerous influential women, ranging from religious figures and royalty to artists and intellectuals, reflecting its enduring appeal and rich cultural heritage.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Theresa
People
Theresa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Theresa 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
Theresa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Theresa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 241,068 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Theresa 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 1,422 US residents.
Is Theresa a common name?
We classify Theresa as "Common". It ranks above 99.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 405,689 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Theresa most popular?
The single biggest year for Theresa was 1961, when 11,990 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Theresa is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Theresa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 278,865 people with the name Theresa, or 92.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #192 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 Theresa 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 Theresa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Theresa appears almost entirely female. Of the 278,873 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 Theresa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Theresa is White at 76.7%. The next largest groups are Black (10.0%) and Hispanic (7.2%). 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 Theresa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Theresa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.7% (213,852 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 Theresa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Theresa a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Theresa 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 Theresa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Theresa 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 Theresa 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 Theresa as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.