Thressa
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "harvester" or "gatherer".
Name Census estimates that about 384 living Americans carry the first name Thressa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Thressa today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Thressa births was 1916 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Thressa. 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 Thressa is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Thressas were born before 1970.
People living today
384
~ 1 in 892,589 Americans
Peak year
1916
27 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
1992 SSA rank
#15,417
Tracked since 1888
Popularity
Thressa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Thressa from the 1880s through to the 1990s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 174 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Thressa 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 Thressa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Thressas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Thressa
The given name Thressa is believed to have originated from the ancient Greek language, dating back to the 5th century BC. It is derived from the Greek word "threskos," which means "religious" or "reverent." The name was likely used to honor Greek goddesses or deities associated with religious practices.
In ancient Greek texts and records, the name Thressa is sometimes spelled as "Thressa" or "Thressa." It appears in several Greek mythological stories and legends, particularly those related to the worship of the goddess Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, wilderness, and fertility.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Thressa is found in the writings of the Greek historian Herodotus, who lived in the 5th century BC. He mentions a woman named Thressa who was a priestess in the temple of Artemis in the city of Ephesus.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Thressa. One of the most famous was Thressa of Crete (c. 300 BC), a renowned Greek philosopher and mathematician. She is credited with developing significant advancements in the field of geometry and is considered one of the earliest female scholars in the ancient world.
Another notable Thressa was a Christian martyr who lived during the 3rd century AD. She was executed for her religious beliefs in the city of Thessalonica, which was part of the Roman Empire at the time. Her story is recounted in various Christian martyrologies and hagiographies.
In the 12th century, there was a Thressa who was a prominent poet and writer in the court of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos. Her works, though largely lost to history, were highly praised by her contemporaries for their lyrical beauty and philosophical depth.
During the Renaissance period, a woman named Thressa da Vinci (1495-1567) gained recognition as a skilled painter and artist. Although overshadowed by her more famous relative, Leonardo da Vinci, her contributions to the artistic traditions of the time were noteworthy.
Thressa was also the name of a renowned scholar and linguist from the 17th century. Thressa Smythe (1623-1692) was an expert in ancient Greek and Latin texts, and her translations and commentaries on classical literature were highly regarded by academics of her era.
While the name Thressa is not as common today as it once was, its rich historical roots and connections to ancient Greek culture and religion make it a unique and intriguing choice for a given name.
People
Thressa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Thressa 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
Thressa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thressa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 384 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Thressa 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 892,589 US residents.
Is Thressa a common name?
We classify Thressa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,004 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Thressa most popular?
The single biggest year for Thressa was 1916, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Thressa is about 66 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Thressa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Thressa 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.