Tessa

What Tessa means

Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Tessa yet, and we don’t write our own.

Editor’s note Down from #208 in 2015 to #311 in 2025 in the US Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Tessa?

US: Falling: down from #208 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #656 in 2015, #667 now.

Biggest US share so far: 2007, when 1,753 girls got the name (#190 that year). First in the US records in 1891.

How common

• About 1 in 1,643 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 4,523 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 3,578 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in AK (3.02 per 1,000 girls), DC (2.48 per 1,000 girls), RI (2.45 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Tessa is #311 in the US and #667 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Tessa were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

Wiktionary only lists the UK pronunciation so far.

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Dessa16 US
• Taissa7 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Tessa

Girls

• Allie#569Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #255 in 2015, #569 in 2025
• Arianna#234Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #56 in 2015, #234 in 2025
• Lexi#628Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #308 in 2015, #628 in 2025
• Ariana#128Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #46 in 2015, #128 in 2025
• Lilly#252Form of Lilian, possibly meaning “lily”^*
• Zoey#69Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1967, with 6 babies

For a brother

• Gabriel#37Finnish, meaning “God is my strong man, God is my hero”^*
• Damien#352Form of Damian, meaning “to tame”^*
• Pierce#505Form of Peter, meaning “stone, rock”^*
• Damian#109“to tame”^*
• Angel#67Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #67 vs #1,307 in 2025
• Zander#396Diminutive of Alexander, meaning “to defend + man”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Greek, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Tessa’s. Rank is US 2025.