girl's name
Theresa
tuh-REE-suh
- Origin German
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 7
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 412,614
Northern Ireland
#454
2018 births
Theresa is a girl's name of uncertain meaning, the German and English spelling of Teresa. It peaked in the same year as Teresa but has fallen further — 1463rd in England and Wales, 1475th in Canada, 1548th in the United States and 4221st in France against Teresa's 909th.
- Theresa is a name of German origin.
- Peaked in 1961, when 11,991 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 24,378 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Theresa over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 2,505 |
| 1890s | 4,735 |
| 1900s | 6,406 |
| 1910s | 18,375 |
| 1920s | 36,795 |
| 1930s | 32,945 |
| 1940s | 35,894 |
| 1950s | 89,789 |
| 1960s | 97,412 |
| 1970s | 40,250 |
| 1980s | 22,507 |
| 1990s | 10,606 |
| 2000s | 4,555 |
| 2010s | 2,198 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 859 |
What Theresa means
Theresa has no securely established meaning. Harvester is the standard reading, from a Greek word for summer, but a derivation from the island of Therasia is equally argued and neither is settled.
Where Theresa comes from
Theresa is the h-bearing spelling of Teresa, and both descend from a name whose origin is genuinely unresolved — proposals include the Greek theros, summer or harvest, and the island of Therasia near Santorini. The h reflects a German and English convention of writing the Greek theta, even where the sound has become a plain t. Thérèse of Lisieux, who died at twenty-four in 1897 and whose autobiography made her one of the most popular saints of the modern era, carried the French form; Maria Theresa ruled the Habsburg lands for forty years and gave the name its Central European standing.
Theresa in use
Theresa peaked in the United States in 1961, when 11,991 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 1463rd in England and Wales, 1548th in the United States on 136 births and 4221st in France, across 412,614 lifetime births in four of the seven markets we track. It shares its peak year exactly with the h-less Teresa, which peaked larger at 18,949 and is marked stable — so the two spellings rose together and only one has held.
How popular is Theresa?
In 2025, Theresa was given to 136 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Theresa is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Theresa is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Thérésa | Thérésa is a rare spelling of Theresa, written with an acute accent and recorded about 85 times, mostly in France. | 85 |
| Thérèsa | Thérèsa is a rare spelling of Theresa, written with an acute accent and recorded about 45 times, mostly in France. | 45 |
Names that peaked alongside Theresa
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Theresa also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Theresa over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
5 nicknames for Theresa
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Theresa in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Theresa
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Theresa — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Theresa
What does the name Theresa mean?
Not securely known — harvester is the standard answer but a link to the island of Therasia is equally argued.
Is Theresa or Teresa more common?
Teresa holds 425,149 recorded births against Theresa's 411,257, and Teresa ranks considerably higher today.
Why does Theresa have an h?
It follows the German and English convention of writing the Greek theta even where the sound is a plain t.
How popular is Theresa?
1548th in the United States, down from a 1961 peak of 11,991 births.
Is Theresa a girl's or a boy's name?
Theresa is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Theresa?
Theresa has 3 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Theresa?
Theresa is usually shortened to Terri, Tracy, Tess, Terry and Tessa.
Is Theresa a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Theresa currently ranks #1,463 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.