Tehillah
A feminine Hebrew name meaning "song of praise" or "hymn".
Name Census estimates that about 198 living Americans carry the first name Tehillah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tehillah today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tehillah births was 2023 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tehillah. 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 Tehillah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
198
~ 1 in 1,731,083 Americans
Peak year
2023
24 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,351
Tracked since 1996
Popularity
Tehillah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tehillah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 83 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tehillah 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 Tehillah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tehillahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tehillah
The name Tehillah has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture. It is derived from the Hebrew word "tehillah," which means "praise" or "song of praise." This name has a strong connection to religious and spiritual contexts within Jewish tradition.
In ancient times, the term "tehillah" was closely associated with the Book of Psalms, known as the "Tehillim" in Hebrew. This biblical book consists of sacred songs and prayers, many of which were composed to praise and glorify God. The name Tehillah symbolizes the act of praising and expressing gratitude, reflecting the profound spiritual significance of the Psalms.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tehillah can be found in the biblical text itself. In the Book of Psalms, there are several references to the word "tehillah," such as in Psalm 22:25, which states, "From you comes my praise (tehillah) in the great assembly."
Throughout history, the name Tehillah has been borne by several notable individuals within the Jewish community. One prominent example is Tehillah Lichtenstein, a 16th-century Jewish scholar and kabbalist born in Kraków, Poland (c. 1520 - c. 1580). She was renowned for her extensive knowledge of Jewish mysticism and her contributions to the study of the Kabbalah.
Another notable figure was Tehillah Rachel Brachah (c. 1570 - c. 1630), a Jewish poet and scholar from Safed, Israel. She was celebrated for her religious poetry and her expertise in interpreting the Torah and other sacred texts.
In the 17th century, Tehillah Bat Shemuel (c. 1620 - c. 1690) was a prominent Jewish woman from Amsterdam, known for her philanthropic work and her support for the local Jewish community.
More recently, Tehillah Goldberg (1903 - 1982) was a Yiddish writer and educator from Poland, who made significant contributions to Yiddish literature and the preservation of Jewish cultural heritage.
Tehillah Miriam Schottenstein (1941 - 2021) was an influential American Jewish educator and author, renowned for her work in promoting Jewish education and her writings on Jewish spirituality and personal growth.
Through its deep-rooted connection to the Psalms and the act of praise, the name Tehillah has carried a profound spiritual significance within Jewish tradition for centuries, reflecting the enduring importance of worship, gratitude, and cultural heritage.
People
Tehillah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tehillah 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
Tehillah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tehillah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 198 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tehillah 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 1,731,083 US residents.
Is Tehillah a common name?
We classify Tehillah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 200 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tehillah most popular?
The single biggest year for Tehillah was 2023, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tehillah is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Tehillah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tehillah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tehillah 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 Tehillah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tehillah 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 Tehillah 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Tehillah?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Tehillah, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.