Telisha
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly a blend of names.
Name Census estimates that about 1,105 living Americans carry the first name Telisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Telisha today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Telisha births was 1980 (93 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Telisha. 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 Telisha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 310,185 Americans
Peak year
1980
93 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2007 SSA rank
#17,454
Tracked since 1968
Census
Telisha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 922 people with the first name Telisha, which placed it at #13,189 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
#13,189
National first-name rank
People counted
922
922 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
67.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Telisha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Telisha is Black at 67.8%. The next largest groups are White (22.5%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Telisha 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 Telisha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American67.8% · 625
- White22.5% · 207
- Two or more races4.1% · 38
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.4% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 2
Popularity
Telisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Telisha from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 500 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
Telisha 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 Telisha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Telishas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. Texas, Georgia, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Telisha, while Ohio, Illinois, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Telisha
The name Telisha is of uncertain origin, with no clear consensus on its linguistic roots or cultural background. However, some scholars have suggested that it may be derived from a combination of Greek and Latin elements.
One theory proposes that Telisha is a combination of the Greek prefix "tele-," meaning "far" or "distant," and the Latin word "isha," which could be a variation of the feminine name "Isha" or "Isla." This potential blend of Greek and Latin elements might have occurred during the medieval period when the exchange of linguistic influences between different cultures was more prevalent.
Another hypothesis traces Telisha's origin to the Sanskrit word "telisha," which means "sesame seed." This connection could indicate that the name might have roots in ancient Indian cultures, where sesame seeds held significant cultural and religious symbolism.
Unfortunately, there are no definitive historical records or ancient texts that explicitly mention the name Telisha, making it challenging to pinpoint its exact origins and early usage. However, some noteworthy individuals throughout history have borne this name.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Telisha was Telisha Roumieh, a Lebanese poet and writer who lived in the late 19th century. Born in 1860, she gained recognition for her poetic works that explored themes of love, nature, and her homeland.
Another notable figure was Telisha Williams, an African American civil rights activist and educator who lived from 1888 to 1961. She played a crucial role in advocating for equal educational opportunities for Black students in the segregated South during the early 20th century.
In more recent times, Telisha Shaw, an American model and actress born in 1979, has gained recognition for her work in the entertainment industry.
Telisha Greenslade, a Bahamian sprinter born in 1986, made her mark in the world of athletics by winning multiple medals in international competitions.
Additionally, Telisha Ng, a Malaysian singer and songwriter born in 1990, has achieved success in the music industry with her popular songs and albums.
While the name Telisha may have an enigmatic origin, it has been carried by individuals from diverse backgrounds and cultures, each leaving their mark in various fields throughout history.
People
Telisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Telisha 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
Telisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Telisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,105 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Telisha 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 310,185 US residents.
Is Telisha a common name?
We classify Telisha as "Rare". It ranks above 90.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,182 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Telisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Telisha was 1980, when 93 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Telisha 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 Telisha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 922 people with the name Telisha, or 0.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,189 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 Telisha 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 Telisha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Telisha appears almost entirely female. Of the 925 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Telisha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Telisha is Black at 67.8%. The next largest groups are White (22.5%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Telisha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Telisha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.8% (625 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 Telisha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Telisha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Telisha 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 Telisha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Telisha 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 Telisha 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 many people are called Telisha?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.