Tabetha
A feminine form of Tabitha, derived from Aramaic meaning "gazelle".
Name Census estimates that about 3,654 living Americans carry the first name Tabetha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tabetha today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tabetha births was 1984 (204 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tabetha. 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 Tabetha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.7K
~ 1 in 93,803 Americans
Peak year
1984
204 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2016 SSA rank
#16,018
Tracked since 1965
Census
Tabetha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,134 people with the first name Tabetha, which placed it at #5,471 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
#5,471
National first-name rank
People counted
3.1K
3,134 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tabetha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tabetha is White at 78.1%. The next largest groups are Black (8.6%) and Hispanic (6.1%). 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 Tabetha 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 Tabetha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.1% · 2,448
- Black or African American8.6% · 270
- Hispanic or Latino6.1% · 191
- Two or more races5.3% · 167
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 34
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 24
Popularity
Tabetha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tabetha from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 1,572 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tabetha 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 Tabetha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tabethas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 32 states and territories. Texas, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Tabetha, while Wisconsin, New Jersey, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 59 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tabetha
The name Tabetha is an English variant of the Hebrew name Tabitha, which is derived from the Aramaic word "ṭəḇīṯā," meaning "gazelle." This name first appears in the Bible's New Testament in the Book of Acts, where it refers to a woman named Tabitha, a disciple of Jesus, who lived in Joppa (modern-day Jaffa, Israel).
The earliest recorded use of the name Tabetha dates back to the late 16th century in England. One of the earliest known bearers of this name was Tabetha Williamson, born in 1589 in Gloucestershire, England.
In the 17th century, the name gained popularity among Puritan families in England and the American colonies. One notable figure was Tabetha Cambridge, born in 1642 in Massachusetts Bay Colony. She was accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials but was eventually acquitted.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, the name Tabetha remained in use, particularly among Protestant families in England and the United States. One notable bearer was Tabetha Holton (1767-1846), an American schoolteacher and author from Massachusetts.
In the 20th century, the name Tabetha saw a resurgence in popularity, likely due to its biblical origins and unique sound. One famous bearer was Tabetha Sturge (1921-2009), an English actress known for her roles in films such as "The Belles of St. Trinian's" and "The Ringer."
Another notable figure was Tabetha Boyajian (1915-2010), an Armenian-American painter and sculptor whose works were exhibited in galleries across the United States.
While not as common as some other names, Tabetha has remained a distinctive choice throughout history, often associated with artistic or creative individuals.
People
Tabetha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tabetha 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
Tabetha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tabetha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,654 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tabetha 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 93,803 US residents.
Is Tabetha a common name?
We classify Tabetha as "Rare". It ranks above 95.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,917 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tabetha most popular?
The single biggest year for Tabetha was 1984, when 204 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tabetha is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tabetha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,134 people with the name Tabetha, or 1.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,471 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 Tabetha 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 Tabetha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tabetha appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,131 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 Tabetha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tabetha is White at 78.1%. The next largest groups are Black (8.6%) and Hispanic (6.1%). 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 Tabetha most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tabetha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.1% (2,448 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 Tabetha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tabetha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tabetha 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 Tabetha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tabetha 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 Tabetha 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 common is the name Tabetha?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Tabetha on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.