Teresita
A feminine Spanish diminutive of Teresa, meaning "harvester" or "reaper".
Name Census estimates that about 2,625 living Americans carry the first name Teresita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Teresita today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Teresita births was 1962 (80 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Teresita. 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
2.6K
~ 1 in 130,573 Americans
Peak year
1962
80 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,354
Tracked since 1891
Census
Teresita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 17,139 people with the first name Teresita, which placed it at #1,762 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
#1,762
National first-name rank
People counted
17K
17,139 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
5.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
55.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Teresita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Teresita is Asian/Pacific Islander at 55.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (41.3%) and White (1.5%). 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 Teresita 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 Teresita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander55.2% · 9,459
- Hispanic or Latino41.3% · 7,077
- White1.5% · 265
- Black or African American1.0% · 170
- Two or more races0.8% · 135
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 33
Popularity
Teresita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Teresita from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 650 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Teresita 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 Teresita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Teresitas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Teresita, while Hawaii, Arizona, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 189 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Teresita
Teresita is a Spanish diminutive form of the name Teresa, which originated from the Greek word "therapon" meaning "attendant" or "worshipper." The name Teresa gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly after the canonization of St. Teresa of Avila in 1622, a Carmelite nun and reformer who was born in 1515 in Avila, Spain.
The earliest recorded use of the name Teresita can be traced back to Spain and Latin American countries with strong Spanish cultural influences. It was a common practice in Spanish-speaking regions to create diminutive forms of names by adding the suffix "-ita" to express affection or endearment.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Teresita was Teresita Tua, a Cuban writer and feminist born in 1868. She was a pioneering figure in the Cuban women's rights movement and published several works advocating for gender equality and social reforms.
Another prominent figure was Teresita Fernández, a Cuban-American contemporary artist known for her large-scale, sculptural installations. She was born in 1959 and is recognized for her exploration of themes related to nature, landscape, and the built environment.
In the realm of literature, Teresita Ríos, a Chilean poet and essayist born in 1950, gained recognition for her poetic works that delved into themes of identity, memory, and the female experience. Her collection "Poemas de una hija" (Poems of a Daughter) received critical acclaim.
The name Teresita also holds significance in the field of music. Teresita Fernández, a Cuban singer and songwriter born in 1924, was renowned for her contributions to the Nueva Trova movement and her socially conscious lyrics that reflected the struggles and aspirations of the Cuban people.
Additionally, Teresita González Reynoso, a Mexican actress and singer born in 1939, left an indelible mark on the Mexican film industry, appearing in numerous popular movies and telenovelas during the 1960s and 1970s.
While the name Teresita has its roots in Spanish-speaking cultures, it has also been embraced and adopted in other parts of the world, transcending cultural boundaries and serving as a testament to the enduring appeal of this diminutive form of Teresa.
People
Teresita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Teresita 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
Teresita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Teresita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,625 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Teresita 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 130,573 US residents.
Is Teresita a common name?
We classify Teresita as "Rare". It ranks above 94.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,366 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Teresita most popular?
The single biggest year for Teresita was 1962, when 80 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Teresita is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Teresita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 17,139 people with the name Teresita, or 5.67 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,762 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 Teresita 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 Teresita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Teresita appears almost entirely female. Of the 17,139 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 Teresita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Teresita is Asian/Pacific Islander at 55.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (41.3%) and White (1.5%). 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 Teresita most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Teresita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.2% (9,459 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 Teresita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Teresita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Teresita 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 Teresita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Teresita 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 Teresita 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 Teresita?
You can see how many Americans are named Teresita on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.