Terisa
A feminine name of Latin origin meaning "Harvester".
Name Census estimates that about 863 living Americans carry the first name Terisa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Terisa today is around 56 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Terisa births was 1968 (50 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Terisa. 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
863
~ 1 in 397,166 Americans
Peak year
1968
50 babies that year
Average age
56
years old
2005 SSA rank
#16,277
Tracked since 1946
Census
Terisa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,150 people with the first name Terisa, which placed it at #11,260 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
#11,260
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,150 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Terisa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Terisa is White at 66.3%. The next largest groups are Black (11.1%) and Hispanic (10.3%). 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 Terisa 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 Terisa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.3% · 762
- Black or African American11.1% · 128
- Hispanic or Latino10.3% · 118
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.4% · 74
- Two or more races4.6% · 53
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 15
Popularity
Terisa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Terisa from the 1940s through to the 2000s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 369 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
Terisa 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 Terisa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Terisas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Terisa, while Ohio, Illinois, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 25 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Terisa
The name Terisa is believed to have originated from the Latin name Teresa, which itself is derived from the Greek name Theresia. The name Teresa is thought to have been formed from the combination of the Greek words "theros" meaning "summer" and "esia" meaning "little".
The name Teresa gained popularity in the Christian tradition due to its association with St. Teresa of Avila, a renowned Spanish mystic and Carmelite nun who lived in the 16th century (1515-1582). She is revered as a Doctor of the Church and is known for her writings on the spiritual life and her reforms within the Carmelite Order.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Terisa can be found in the medieval Italian text "Vita di Santa Teresa d'Avila" (Life of St. Teresa of Avila), written by an anonymous author in the late 16th or early 17th century. This text recounts the life and teachings of St. Teresa of Avila and likely contributed to the spread of the name's popularity.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Terisa. One of the earliest examples is Terisa de Navarra (born around 1200), a Spanish noblewoman who was the daughter of Sancho VII, King of Navarre. Another historical figure is Terisa de Ayala (1370-1438), a Spanish noblewoman and the founder of the Convent of Santa Clara in Palencia.
In the realm of literature, Terisa di Durazzo (1351-1367) was an Italian poet and noble who lived during the 14th century. Her work, known as the "Rime di Terisa di Durazzo," is considered one of the earliest examples of poetry written by a woman in the Italian language.
In the 19th century, Terisa Battista (1829-1905) was an Italian painter and sculptor who is known for her religious works and portraits. She was one of the few female artists of her time to receive recognition and commissions from the Vatican.
Another notable figure is Terisa Gibilisco (1905-1983), an Italian-American labor organizer and activist who fought for the rights of factory workers and immigrants in the United States during the early 20th century.
People
Terisa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Terisa 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
Terisa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Terisa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 863 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Terisa 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 397,166 US residents.
Is Terisa a common name?
We classify Terisa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,030 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Terisa most popular?
The single biggest year for Terisa was 1968, when 50 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Terisa is about 56 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Terisa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,150 people with the name Terisa, or 0.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,260 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 Terisa 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 Terisa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Terisa appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,149 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 Terisa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Terisa is White at 66.3%. The next largest groups are Black (11.1%) and Hispanic (10.3%). 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 Terisa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Terisa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.3% (762 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 Terisa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Terisa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Terisa 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 Terisa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Terisa 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 Terisa 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 named Terisa?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.