Girls' name · since 1880

Tessie

Tessie has 9,981 recorded births since 1880 in federal Social Security data, most heavily in 1917 -- full year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state rankings follow.

#1,672 of 72,339
all-time among girls
#10,922 of 17,297
2025 SSA year
9,981
born since 1880
1910s
peak decade

9,981 babies have been named Tessie since 1880, making it today's #10922 girls' name.

Social Security Administration records show Tessie recorded 9,981 times among girls since 1880, holding rank #10922 nationally today, ahead of 37% of girls, peaking in the 1910s. This profile derives year-by-year birth trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1880 to 2025.

  • #1,672 of 72,339 all-time among girls
  • #10,922 of 17,297 2025 SSA year
  • 9,981 born since 1880
  • 1910s peak decade

Data updated Aug 2026

The verdict

According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Tessie ranks #1,672 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #10,922 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. 9,981 born since 1880, peaking in the 1910s.

#1,672 of 72,339
all-time among girls
#10,922 of 17,297
2025 SSA year
9,981
born since 1880
1910s
peak decade
0%100%Median name50%36.8%
Tessie vs. every other girls name in current SSA rankings
Upper archive tier
All-time archive position

Tessie's 9,981 recorded births place it above 97.68% of the 72,339 girls names in the full SSA archive.

26 jurisdictions
State-record footprint

26 jurisdictions carry state-level records, led by New York.

How Tessie compares

9,981 Top 10% higher than 90% of 17,297 names currently given to girls

Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked girls names. Names with fewer occurrences are grouped into wider buckets on the right.

Source U.S. Social Security Administration, national baby name data

How the numbers stack up

Tessie's all-time total is 27x the median girls name, and Olivia still leads by a wide margin.

Metric Tessie Median girls name (Kyann) #1 girls name (Olivia)
All-time total births 9,981 376 567,345
Peak-year births 393 21 19,840

Tessie's usage pattern, beyond the headline number

Tessie splits its recorded history at 1953: 24% of all births land in the more recent half, 76% in the earlier half, leaning more toward its earlier era than today's. The single quietest year was 2022 (5 births) -- compare that against the 1917 peak of 393 for a sense of just how much the name's popularity has swung.

Tessie popularity over time - girls

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1880–2025

Outside the top 1,000
Peak year (1917)
393
Annual births at peak, across 146 years of records
0100200300400500 188018991918193719561975199420132025 8

Tessie popularity over time - boys

10 total births recorded since 1918 (Tessie as boys' name)

Unisex variant - 10 births
5 19181922 5

Tessie by decade

1910s is the heaviest window (2,583 births, 26% of the file).

1910s was Tessie's strongest decade.

2,583 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 26% of all-time use.

Tessie births by decade

Total births in each ten-year window

births

What this shows Peak: 1910s at 2,583 births (26% of all-time use).

Source U.S. Social Security Administration · Baby Names As of August 2026

How Tessie compares to similarly-sized names

Years in SSA records vs. share of all-time use concentrated in the single peak year, among 15 girls names closest to Tessie's total volume

Tessie vs 15 similarly-sized girls names Scatter plot of 16 data points. 0%5%10%15% 050100150200 New & already peakedOld name, single-era peakNew & still diversifyingLong history, steady all along Years in SSA records % of total births in the single peak year -41, 12.5%-146, 1.7%-146, 2%-145, 2.8%-146, 2.5%-146, 3.7%-139, 3%-61, 3.6%-146, 3.1%-132, 1.8%-77, 4.6%-75, 5.7%-69, 7%-146, 2.6%-107, 6.2%Tessie-146, 3.9%Tessie
Tessie vs 15 similarly-sized girls names

Tessie by state

Where Tessie concentrates geographically, total births since 1880

Geographically diffuse
Top 8 states by recorded births for the name Tessie
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 New York
1,516 15.2%
#2 New Jersey
606 6.1%
#3 Pennsylvania
478 4.8%
#4 Texas
306 3.1%
#5 Louisiana
289 2.9%
#6 North Carolina
238 2.4%
#7 Alabama
195 2.0%
#8 Illinois
181 1.8%
New York share of Tessie's total US births 15.2%
Even split

1,516 of 9,981 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 26 reporting states.

Tessie appears in 26 states. Explore state details →

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Tessie?
9,981 babies have been named Tessie since 1880. All-time, it sits at #1,672 of 72,339 girls' names by recorded births. In 2025, it ranks #10,922 of 17,297 among girls. The peak year was 1917 with 393 births.
Where does Tessie sit in the SSA name archive?
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Tessie ranks #1,672 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #10,922 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. All-time ordinal matches browse popularity (total births DESC); the current ordinal uses the 2025 SSA file. See /methodology#corpus-placement.
When was Tessie most popular?
Tessie was most popular in the 1910s decade with 2,583 total births. The single peak year was 1917.
Where is Tessie most popular?
The top states for the name Tessie are New York (1,516 births), New Jersey (606 births), Pennsylvania (478 births).
How long has the name Tessie been used?
The SSA has tracked Tessie since 1880 -- 146 years through the most recent 2025 data.
What names are similar to Tessie?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Tessa, Tess, Tesla, Tesha, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for girls.

What to do with Tessie's data

  • Tessie's decade-level peak was the 1910s (2,583 total births); usage has since declined to 55 in the 2020s -- if you're weighing a "classic revival" angle, the trend line argues against it.
  • New York records the most Tessies (1,516 births) -- see the full state breakdown if geography matters to your decision. New York names

Figures reflect SSA-reported births only; see the methodology above for the privacy-suppression floor.

Keep exploring Tessie

Nearby Names Like Tessie

Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Tessie

Names with a similar popularity rank to Tessie

Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span

Two nationwide peer axes for Tessie: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.

Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.

Data Sources

Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 1880–2025 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).

Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Tessie draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.