Theresa
Theresa was given to 136 girls in 2025, #1,559 among girls’ names; 405,831 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 262,000 Americans named Theresa and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (65% of everyone recorded); the median is 63 years old and half are between 54 and 70.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Theresa by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Theresa mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Theresa is “a female given name from Ancient Greek, variant of Teresa.”
First used in Spain, supposedly derived from Latin Thēra, from Ancient Greek Θήρᾱ (Thḗrā), name of a city in Santorini, Greece.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Theresa?
#1,559 among girls’ names, 2025
Theresa fell from #1,196 in 2015 to #1,559 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 0.12 to 0.08 per 1,000.
11,991 babies in 1961, the peak
Theresa peaked in 1961, when 11,991 babies were given it (11,960 girls, #35 among girls’ names). The 136 births of 2025 are 1% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 136 | #1,559 | 0.08 |
| 2024 | 146 | #1,496 | 0.09 |
| 2023 | 123 | #1,691 | 0.08 |
| 2022 | 148 | #1,484 | 0.09 |
| 2021 | 150 | #1,439 | 0.09 |
| 2020 | 156 | #1,410 | 0.10 |
| 2019 | 184 | #1,266 | 0.11 |
| 2018 | 224 | #1,105 | 0.13 |
| 2017 | 219 | #1,136 | 0.13 |
| 2016 | 210 | #1,191 | 0.12 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 210 | #1,196 | 0.12 |
| 2014 | 226 | #1,124 | 0.13 |
| 2013 | 198 | #1,218 | 0.11 |
| 2012 | 232 | #1,076 | 0.13 |
| 2011 | 213 | #1,156 | 0.12 |
| 2010 | 282 | #923 | 0.16 |
| 2009 | 283 | #944 | 0.15 |
| 2008 | 342 | #832 | 0.18 |
| 2007 | 379 | #769 | 0.20 |
| 2006 | 394 | #717 | 0.21 |
| 2005 | 440 | #637 | 0.24 |
| 2004 | 410 | #671 | 0.22 |
| 2003 | 494 | #567 | 0.27 |
| 2002 | 532 | #516 | 0.30 |
| 2001 | 602 | #462 | 0.33 |
| 2000 | 679 | #418 | 0.37 |
| 1999 | 701 | #400 | 0.40 |
| 1998 | 787 | #365 | 0.45 |
| 1997 | 853 | #336 | 0.49 |
| 1996 | 883 | #318 | 0.50 |
| 1995 | 948 | #292 | 0.54 |
| 1994 | 1,063 | #264 | 0.60 |
| 1993 | 1,159 | #242 | 0.64 |
| 1992 | 1,238 | #226 | 0.67 |
| 1991 | 1,460 | #206 | 0.78 |
| 1990 | 1,499 | #196 | 0.79 |
| 1989 | 1,546 | #180 | 0.84 |
| 1988 | 1,658 | #171 | 0.93 |
| 1987 | 1,739 | #159 | 1.0 |
| 1986 | 1,979 | #144 | 1.2 |
| 1985 | 2,123 | #136 | 1.2 |
| 1984 | 2,307 | #121 | 1.4 |
| 1983 | 2,416 | #122 | 1.4 |
| 1982 | 2,753 | #109 | 1.6 |
| 1981 | 2,943 | #100 | 1.8 |
| 1980 | 2,925 | #104 | 1.8 |
| 1979 | 2,995 | #100 | 1.9 |
| 1978 | 2,922 | #101 | 1.9 |
| 1977 | 2,914 | #98 | 1.9 |
| 1976 | 3,173 | #89 | 2.2 |
| 1975 | 3,611 | #78 | 2.5 |
| 1974 | 3,857 | #79 | 2.6 |
| 1973 | 4,178 | #69 | 2.9 |
| 1972 | 4,569 | #68 | 3.0 |
| 1971 | 5,446 | #61 | 3.3 |
| 1970 | 6,411 | #53 | 3.7 |
| 1969 | 6,858 | #49 | 4.1 |
| 1968 | 7,307 | #47 | 4.5 |
| 1967 | 8,105 | #43 | 4.9 |
| 1966 | 8,699 | #46 | 5.1 |
| 1965 | 9,685 | #45 | 5.5 |
| 1964 | 10,557 | #38 | 5.6 |
| 1963 | 11,039 | #38 | 5.7 |
| 1962 | 11,061 | #40 | 5.6 |
| 1961 | 11,960 | #35 | 5.9 |
| 1960 | 11,847 | #35 | 5.9 |
| 1959 | 11,656 | #34 | 5.8 |
| 1958 | 11,452 | #33 | 5.7 |
| 1957 | 11,188 | #36 | 5.5 |
| 1956 | 10,841 | #32 | 5.4 |
| 1955 | 9,620 | #38 | 4.9 |
| 1954 | 8,509 | #47 | 4.4 |
| 1953 | 7,715 | #50 | 4.1 |
| 1952 | 6,809 | #60 | 3.7 |
| 1951 | 6,190 | #64 | 3.4 |
| 1950 | 5,628 | #65 | 3.3 |
| 1949 | 5,603 | #63 | 3.3 |
| 1948 | 5,556 | #63 | 3.3 |
| 1947 | 4,390 | #85 | 2.5 |
| 1946 | 3,684 | #96 | 2.3 |
| 1945 | 2,895 | #96 | 2.2 |
| 1944 | 2,817 | #96 | 2.1 |
| 1943 | 2,929 | #100 | 2.1 |
| 1942 | 2,799 | #98 | 2.1 |
| 1941 | 2,675 | #95 | 2.2 |
| 1940 | 2,441 | #102 | 2.1 |
| 1939 | 2,611 | #94 | 2.4 |
| 1938 | 2,763 | #92 | 2.5 |
| 1937 | 2,702 | #95 | 2.5 |
| 1936 | 2,758 | #88 | 2.7 |
| 1935 | 2,863 | #86 | 2.7 |
| 1934 | 3,192 | #77 | 3.1 |
| 1933 | 3,266 | #70 | 3.2 |
| 1932 | 3,813 | #60 | 3.6 |
| 1931 | 4,034 | #59 | 3.8 |
| 1930 | 4,783 | #50 | 4.2 |
| 1929 | 5,068 | #49 | 4.5 |
| 1928 | 5,330 | #49 | 4.6 |
| 1927 | 5,129 | #52 | 4.3 |
| 1926 | 4,407 | #64 | 3.7 |
| 1925 | 3,515 | #80 | 2.9 |
| 1924 | 3,021 | #96 | 2.4 |
| 1923 | 2,614 | #105 | 2.2 |
| 1922 | 2,543 | #109 | 2.1 |
| 1921 | 2,613 | #107 | 2.1 |
| 1920 | 2,426 | #108 | 2.0 |
| 1919 | 2,380 | #102 | 2.1 |
| 1918 | 2,511 | #101 | 2.2 |
| 1917 | 2,490 | #97 | 2.3 |
| 1916 | 2,348 | #98 | 2.2 |
| 1915 | 2,309 | #93 | 2.3 |
| 1914 | 1,794 | #93 | 2.4 |
| 1913 | 1,403 | #97 | 2.2 |
| 1912 | 1,268 | #97 | 2.3 |
| 1911 | 919 | #100 | 2.2 |
| 1910 | 926 | #96 | 2.3 |
| 1909 | 724 | #106 | 2.1 |
| 1908 | 795 | #94 | 2.4 |
| 1907 | 734 | #99 | 2.3 |
| 1906 | 669 | #99 | 2.3 |
| 1905 | 598 | #108 | 2.1 |
| 1904 | 561 | #108 | 2.0 |
| 1903 | 553 | #102 | 2.1 |
| 1902 | 549 | #109 | 2.1 |
| 1901 | 554 | #94 | 2.3 |
| 1900 | 659 | #102 | 2.2 |
| 1899 | 532 | #101 | 2.3 |
| 1898 | 540 | #107 | 2.1 |
| 1897 | 533 | #100 | 2.3 |
| 1896 | 469 | #108 | 2.0 |
| 1895 | 515 | #103 | 2.2 |
| 1894 | 484 | #101 | 2.2 |
| 1893 | 469 | #101 | 2.2 |
| 1892 | 417 | #107 | 2.0 |
| 1891 | 370 | #107 | 2.0 |
| 1890 | 401 | #101 | 2.1 |
| 1889 | 359 | #106 | 2.0 |
| 1888 | 377 | #101 | 2.1 |
| 1887 | 284 | #108 | 1.9 |
| 1886 | 276 | #112 | 1.9 |
| 1885 | 232 | #114 | 1.7 |
| 1884 | 240 | #112 | 1.9 |
| 1883 | 241 | #104 | 2.1 |
| 1882 | 170 | #121 | 1.6 |
| 1881 | 173 | #108 | 1.9 |
| 1880 | 153 | #112 | 1.7 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Theresa a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Theresa has been given almost only to girls: 1,218 boys in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Theresa: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Theresa, and how old are they?
262,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 65% of the 405,831 Americans ever recorded as Theresa. The median Theresa alive today is 63 years old; half are between 54 and 70.
The 2020 Census counted 278,873 people named Theresa (278,643 women and girls, 230 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 286,629 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 15,600 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 132,000 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 77,100 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 27,000 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 7,530 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 2,320 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Theresa born?
The states with the most babies named Theresa are New York, Pennsylvania and California, with 31% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 56,634 | #1,023 | 1.7× |
| Pennsylvania | 35,275 | #921 | 1.4× |
| California | 27,951 | #1,936 | 0.9× |
| Illinois | 22,639 | #1,230 | 1.1× |
| Ohio | 20,168 | #1,427 | 1.0× |
| New Jersey | 18,918 | #1,028 | 1.6× |
| Michigan | 18,387 | #1,051 | 1.1× |
| Massachusetts | 18,022 | not ranked | 1.5× |
| Texas | 14,962 | #2,610 | 0.6× |
| Wisconsin | 9,080 | not ranked | 1.0× |
Where Theresa is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Theresa is most over-represented in New York: since 1910 it was given 1.7 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Theresa with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 450,655 babies since 1880, Theresa is the most given (90% of them). In 2025 it was given to 136 of their 215 babies (63%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Theresa
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
| Name | Recorded | 1880-2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Mona | 45,818 | |
| Anita | 215,849 | |
| Therese | 35,595 | |
| Bernadette | 55,033 | |
| Annette | 169,795 |
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Theresa and names like it
- Compare Theresa and ThereseBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sTheresa peaked in 1961.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Theresa since 1910.
- The top names of 1961The year the most babies were named Theresa.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Theresa alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with TMost given first.