Thirza
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "She who is delight or pleasure".
Name Census estimates that about 22 living Americans carry the first name Thirza. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Thirza today is around 73 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Thirza births was 1917 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Thirza. 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 Thirza with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Thirza is about 73 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Thirzas were born before 1963.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Thirza. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
22
~ 1 in 15,579,743 Americans
Peak year
1917
20 babies that year
Average age
73
years old
1981 SSA rank
#10,312
Tracked since 1887
Census
Thirza in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 178 people with the first name Thirza, which placed it at #41,266 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
#41,266
National first-name rank
People counted
178
178 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Thirza
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thirza is White at 60.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.2%) and Black (10.1%). 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 Thirza 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 Thirza at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.1% · 107
- Hispanic or Latino20.2% · 36
- Black or African American10.1% · 18
- Two or more races5.6% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Popularity
Thirza: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Thirza from the 1880s through to the 1980s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 59 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Thirza 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 Thirza during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Thirza
The name Thirza has its origins in the Hebrew language. It is derived from the biblical place name "Tirzah," which was the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of the early kings. The name Tirzah is believed to come from the Hebrew word "ratzon," meaning "pleasing" or "favorable."
In the Bible, Tirzah is mentioned as the place where the beautiful Israelite woman Abigail lived, who later became one of King David's wives. The city of Tirzah is also referenced in the books of Joshua, 1 Kings, and 2 Chronicles, highlighting its significance in ancient Israelite history.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Thirza is from the 17th century. Thirza Reynardson was an English Quaker minister born in 1640 who traveled extensively, preaching in England, Ireland, and the American colonies. She left behind several written works, including a testimony of her spiritual journey.
Another notable bearer of the name was Thirza Cropper (1793-1858), an English Quaker activist and philanthropist. She was a prominent figure in the anti-slavery movement and worked tirelessly to support the education and welfare of enslaved Africans and their families.
In the 19th century, Thirza Benton (1831-1921) was an American painter and art teacher from Massachusetts. She studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and exhibited her works in several major exhibitions, contributing to the growing recognition of women artists in her time.
Thirza Vallance (1852-1941) was a British novelist and short story writer. She authored several popular novels, including "The Bell in the Fog" (1905) and "The Winding Road" (1911), which explored themes of love, relationships, and societal norms of the Victorian era.
Thirza Defoe (1905-1964) was a South African activist and trade unionist. She played a significant role in organizing and advocating for the rights of workers, particularly in the textile and garment industries. Her efforts contributed to improving working conditions and wages for many workers in South Africa.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Thirza, each with their own unique contributions and legacies.
People
Thirza + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Thirza 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
Thirza: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thirza?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 22 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Thirza 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 15,579,743 US residents.
Is Thirza a common name?
We classify Thirza as "Very Rare". It ranks above 41.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 207 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Thirza most popular?
The single biggest year for Thirza was 1917, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Thirza is about 73 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Thirza in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 178 people with the name Thirza, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,266 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 Thirza 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 Thirza?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Thirza appears almost entirely female. Of the 176 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Thirza?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thirza is White at 60.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.2%) and Black (10.1%). 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 Thirza most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Thirza in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.1% (107 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 Thirza in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Thirza a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Thirza 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 Thirza still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Thirza 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 Thirza 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 Thirza?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.