Teresia
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "harvester" or "worker".
Name Census estimates that about 837 living Americans carry the first name Teresia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Teresia today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Teresia births was 1956 (68 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Teresia. 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
837
~ 1 in 409,503 Americans
Peak year
1956
68 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
1994 SSA rank
#11,683
Tracked since 1915
Census
Teresia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,245 people with the first name Teresia, which placed it at #10,611 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
#10,611
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,245 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Teresia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Teresia is White at 55.0%. The next largest groups are Black (33.5%) and Hispanic (4.4%). 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 Teresia 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 Teresia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.0% · 685
- Black or African American33.5% · 417
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 55
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.3% · 41
- Two or more races2.7% · 34
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 13
Popularity
Teresia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Teresia from the 1910s through to the 1990s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 443 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
Teresia 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 Teresia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Teresias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi recorded the most babies named Teresia, while Virginia, Louisiana, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Teresia
The name Teresia has its origins in Ancient Greek, derived from the word "therizo," meaning "to harvest." It is a feminine variant of the male name Therisios, which was popular in ancient Greek mythology and literature.
Teresia can be traced back to the 3rd century BC, where it was mentioned in the works of the Greek poet Callimachus. In his poem "Hymn to Demeter," he referred to the goddess of agriculture as "Theresia," alluding to her role in overseeing the harvest.
The name gained further prominence in the early Christian era, with the martyrdom of Saint Theresia of Avila in the 4th century AD. She was a young Spanish woman who refused to renounce her faith during the Roman persecutions and was subsequently executed. Her story inspired many early Christians and contributed to the popularity of the name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Teresia is found in the writings of Saint Augustine, the renowned philosopher and theologian of the 4th and 5th centuries. He mentioned a woman named Teresia in his work "City of God," describing her as a devout Christian and a model of virtue.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Teresia. Teresia of Avila (1515-1582) was a Spanish mystic, writer, and reformer of the Carmelite Order, recognized as a Doctor of the Church. Her autobiographical work, "The Life of Teresia of Avila," is considered a classic of Christian literature.
Teresia Higginson (1844-1923) was an American author and social reformer, known for her work in the women's suffrage movement and her advocacy for social justice. She was a prominent member of the New England Women's Club and contributed to numerous publications.
Teresia Carpio (1888-1919) was a Filipino revolutionary and feminist, who played a significant role in the Philippine Revolution against Spanish colonial rule. She is celebrated as a national heroine for her bravery and dedication to the cause of independence.
Teresia Teng (1953-1995) was a renowned Taiwanese singer-songwriter, often referred to as the "Queen of Mandarin Pop." Her music blended traditional Chinese melodies with contemporary styles, and she remains an iconic figure in the Mandarin music industry.
Teresia May (1957-) is a British politician and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, serving from 2016 to 2019. She played a pivotal role in negotiating the terms of Britain's withdrawal from the European Union, a process known as "Brexit."
People
Teresia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Teresia 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
Teresia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Teresia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 837 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Teresia 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 409,503 US residents.
Is Teresia a common name?
We classify Teresia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,133 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Teresia most popular?
The single biggest year for Teresia was 1956, when 68 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Teresia is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Teresia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,245 people with the name Teresia, or 0.41 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,611 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 Teresia 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 Teresia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Teresia appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,248 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Teresia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Teresia is White at 55.0%. The next largest groups are Black (33.5%) and Hispanic (4.4%). 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 Teresia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Teresia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.0% (685 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 Teresia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Teresia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Teresia 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 Teresia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Teresia 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 Teresia 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 Teresia?
Find out how many Americans are named Teresia on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.