Terese
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "harvester" or "huntress".
Name Census estimates that about 4,645 living Americans carry the first name Terese. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Terese today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Terese births was 1957 (268 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Terese. 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.
People living today
4.6K
~ 1 in 73,790 Americans
Peak year
1957
268 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
2020 SSA rank
#13,343
Tracked since 1889
Census
Terese in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,834 people with the first name Terese, which placed it at #3,541 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
#3,541
National first-name rank
People counted
5.8K
5,834 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Terese
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Terese is White at 84.4%. The next largest groups are Black (7.6%) and Hispanic (4.3%). 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 Terese 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 Terese at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.4% · 4,922
- Black or African American7.6% · 445
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 253
- Two or more races2.1% · 124
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 66
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 24
Popularity
Terese: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Terese from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 2,080 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Terese 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 Terese during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tereses live
The SSA's state-level files cover 22 states and territories. Illinois, New York, California recorded the most babies named Terese, while Maryland, Louisiana, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 171 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Terese
The name Terese originates from the Greek language and culture, with its roots traced back to ancient times. It is derived from the Greek word "therizo," which means "to harvest" or "to reap," symbolizing fruitfulness and abundance.
In the early days of Christianity, the name Terese became associated with Saint Therese of Lisieux, a French Carmelite nun who lived in the late 19th century (1873-1897). She is widely revered for her simple yet profound approach to spirituality, known as the "Little Way." Her writings and teachings have had a lasting impact on the Catholic Church and beyond.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Terese can be found in the works of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC), who mentioned a woman named Therese in his writings. However, the name gained widespread popularity after the canonization of Saint Therese of Lisieux in 1925.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Terese. One such figure is Terese of Ávila, also known as Saint Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582), a Spanish mystic, writer, and reformer of the Carmelite Order. Her influential writings on prayer and contemplation have earned her a revered status in the Catholic Church.
Another famous bearer of the name is Terese Neumann (1898-1962), a German Catholic mystic and stigmatic who is said to have lived without food or drink for the last 35 years of her life, a phenomenon that has baffled medical experts and theologians alike.
In the realm of literature, Terese Raquin is the titular character of Émile Zola's novel "Thérèse Raquin" (1867), a work that explores themes of passion, guilt, and moral dilemmas. The novel was considered a groundbreaking work in the naturalist literary movement.
Terese Miljeteig-Olssen (1854-1934) was a Norwegian women's rights activist and politician, who played a pivotal role in securing women's suffrage in Norway. She was the first female member of the Norwegian Parliament and a prominent figure in the early feminist movement.
These are just a few examples of the notable individuals who have borne the name Terese throughout history, each leaving an indelible mark in their respective fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of this name's legacy.
People
Terese + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Terese 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
Terese: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Terese?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,645 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Terese 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 73,790 US residents.
Is Terese a common name?
We classify Terese as "Rare". It ranks above 96.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,502 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Terese most popular?
The single biggest year for Terese was 1957, when 268 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Terese is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Terese in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,834 people with the name Terese, or 1.93 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,541 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 Terese 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 Terese?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Terese appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,838 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Terese?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Terese is White at 84.4%. The next largest groups are Black (7.6%) and Hispanic (4.3%). 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 Terese most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Terese in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.4% (4,922 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 Terese in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Terese a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Terese 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 Terese still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Terese 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 Terese 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 Terese?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.