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BabyNames
Girl name#29 of girl names

Teresa

Pronounced T ER0 EY1 S AH0 (ARPABET)

  • 3 syllables
  • Peaked 1961
  • 145 years in use
  • 1 spelling
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How popular is Teresa?

Teresa is a girls' name, and has been in the record since the data starts in 1880. It has been given to 820,258 children — the 29th most common girls' name on record.

It has been slipping, down 33% on the previous decade. Its best single year was 1961, when 30,868 children were given it.

Theresa is counted with it here, since the two are pronounced identically.

012,50025,00037,50050,00018901920195019802010
196130,868

Spelling variants

These spellings sound identical to Teresa and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.

  • Theresa

Nicknames

Common short forms: Terri, Tess, Tessa.

Characteristics

  • 3 syllables
Phonetic detail
Pronunciations:
T ER0 EY1 S AH0 · T ER0 IY1 S AH0
Stress pattern:
010 · 010
Syllables:
3

Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.

Names like Teresa

Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.

Sibling names for Teresa

Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.

Frequently asked questions

How popular is the name Teresa?
Teresa ranks 29th among girls' names in US records, with 820,258 births since 1880. Over the past decade it accounts for 5,384.
Is Teresa a unisex name?
No. Teresa is recorded almost entirely as a girls' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
When was Teresa most popular?
1961, when 30,868 children were given the name. It has been in use for 145 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
What are common nicknames for Teresa?
Terri, Tess, Tessa. These are recorded as separate names in their own right, so each has its own page and its own popularity curve.
How else is Teresa spelled?
Theresa. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.