Find out how popular the last name Teresa is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Teresa.

Teresa, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Teresa surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Teresa in America

Teresa is the 73005th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Teresa surname appeared 266 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Teresa.

We can also compare 2010 data for Teresa to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Teresa

The surname Teresa is of Italian origin, deriving from the Italian word "Teresa" which means "harvester" or "reaper." This name traces its roots back to ancient Greek, where it was originally "Theresia" or "Theresa," a feminine form of the Greek name "Therios" meaning "of the summer" or "of the harvest."

The earliest recorded instances of the surname Teresa can be found in medieval Italian records from the 12th and 13th centuries. It was particularly prevalent in central and southern regions of Italy, such as Tuscany, Lazio, and Campania. Some of the earliest known bearers of this surname were Matteo Teresa, a landowner from Siena mentioned in a 1215 document, and Guglielmo Teresa, a merchant from Naples recorded in 1273.

In the 14th century, the surname Teresa is found in various Italian manuscripts and records, including the famous Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio, where a character named Teresa is mentioned. Another notable historical figure was Beatrice Teresa, a noblewoman from Milan who lived in the late 15th century.

As Italian migration increased in the following centuries, the surname Teresa spread to other parts of Europe and eventually to the Americas. One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname in England was John Teresa, a merchant from Venice who settled in London in the early 16th century.

Prominent bearers of the surname Teresa throughout history include:

1. Tommaso Teresa (1548-1623), an Italian painter and architect from Naples.
2. Antonio Teresa (1637-1711), a Sicilian mathematician and astronomer.
3. Maria Teresa (1717-1780), the Archduchess of Austria and Queen of Hungary and Bohemia.
4. Giuseppe Teresa (1801-1872), an Italian politician and writer from Palermo.
5. Antonio Teresa (1859-1938), an Italian sculptor and painter from Naples.

The surname Teresa has also been associated with various places and geographical locations, particularly in Italy. For example, the town of Teresia in Calabria and the village of Teresa in Abruzzo are named after individuals who bore this surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Teresa

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Teresa.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Teresa was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Teresa has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Teresa was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Teresa, please contact us.

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