Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; french: Thérèse) is a feminine given name.
It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from
Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to
harvest
Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...
or reap", or from θέρος (''theros'') "summer".
It is first recorded in the form ''Therasia'', the name of
Therasia of Nola, an aristocrat of the 4th century.
Its popularity outside of Iberia increased because of saint
Teresa of Ávila, and more recently
Thérèse of Lisieux and
Mother Teresa.
In the
United States it was ranked as the 852nd most popular name for girls born in 2008, down from 226th in 1992 (it ranked 65th in 1950, and 102nd in 1900). Spelled "Teresa," it was the 580th most popular name for girls born in 2008, down from 206th in 1992 (it ranked 81st in 1950, and 220th in 1900).
People
In aristocracy:
*
Teresa of Portugal (disambiguation)
**
Theresa, Countess of Portugal (1080–1130), mother of Afonso Henriques, the first King of Portugal
**
Theresa of Portugal, Countess of Flanders
Theresa of Portugal ( pt, Teresa or ''Tereza'', ; Archaic Portuguese: ''Tarasia''; 11511218) was Countess of Flanders by marriage to Philip I, Count of Flanders, and Duchess of Burgundy by marriage to Odo III, Duke of Burgundy. She was the daugh ...
(1157–1218), daughter of Afonso Henriques and wife of Philip, Count of Flanders
**
Theresa of Portugal, Queen of León (1181–1250), daughter of Sancho I of Portugal and wife of Alfonso IX of León
**
Infanta Maria Teresa of Braganza (1793-1874), firstborn child of John VI of Portugal
*
Teresa Lubomirska, Polish noble lady
*
Teresa of the Two Sicilies, Empress-consort of Brazil
*
Teresa, Contessa Guiccioli (1800–1873), the married lover of Lord Byron in Ravenna
In the arts:
*
Teresa Berganza, Spanish opera singer
*
Teresa Brewer, American pop and jazz singer
*
Teresa Carpenter,
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
-winning American author
*
Teresa Carpio, Cantopop singer and actress
*
Teresa Carreño, Venezuelan musician
*
Teresa Cheung (socialite), Hong Kong socialite and actress
*
Teresa De Sio, Italian folk singer-songwriter
*
Teresa Edgerton, American author of fantasy novels and short stories
*
Theresa Fu, Hong Kong singer and actress
*
Teresa Gallagher, British actress
*
Therese Grankvist
Therese Grankvist (born 2 May 1977) is a Swedish singer and songwriter. She started recording in 1997 under the Drömhus alias, and goes by Therese since the release of her single "Monkey" in 2002. She may be best known for her internationally ...
, Swedish singer
*
Teresa Graves, American actress and singer
*
Theresa Harris
Theresa Harris (December 31, 1906 – October 8, 1985) was an American television and film actress, singer and dancer.
Early life
Harris was born on New Year's Eve 1906 (some sources indicate 1909) in Houston, Texas, to Isaiah and Mable Harris, ...
, American actress, dancer and singer
*
Theresa Ikoko
Theresa Ikoko is a British playwright and screenwriter of Nigerian descent. Her play ''Girls'', about three girls abducted by terrorists in northern Nigeria, won the Alfred Fagon Award and other awards.
Ikoko later gained greater nationwide reco ...
, British playwright
*
Teresa Medeiros, American romance novelist
*
Teresa Nielsen Hayden, American writer and teacher
*
Teresa Palmer, Australian actress
*
Teresa Parente, American actress
*
Theresa Randle
Theresa E. Randle (born December 27, 1964) is an American actress. She has appeared in films such as ''Malcolm X'' (1992), '' Sugar Hill'', ''Beverly Hills Cop III'' (both 1994), '' Girl 6'', ''Space Jam'' (both 1996), ''Spawn'' (1997) and the '' ...
, American actress
*
Teresa Reichlen, American ballet dancer
*
Theresa Russell, American actress
*
Theresa Saldana, American actress
*
Teresa Salgueiro, Portuguese singer
*
Theresa Sokyrka, Canadian singer-songwriter
*
Teresa Stratas, Canadian soprano
*
Teresa Teng, Taiwanese queen of pop
*
Teresa Villaverde, Portuguese film director
*
Lady Teresa Waugh, British novelist and translator
*
Teresa Wright, Academy Award-winning American actress
*
Teresa Żarnowerówna
Teresa Żarnowerówna (or Żarnower; – April 30, 1949) was a Polish avant-garde artist, painter, sculptor, scenographer, and architect.
Personal life
Teresa Żarnowerówna was born in Targówek, Warsaw in either 1895 or 1897 (sources cann ...
, Polish avant-garde artist
In politics:
*
Theresa Ahearn (1951-2000), Irish Member of Parliament
*
Teresa Aquino-Oreta (born 1944), Filipino politician
*
Teresa Bellanova
Teresa Bellanova (born 17 August 1958) is an Italian politician and trade unionist, who served as Minister of Agriculture from September 2019 to January 2021 in the government of Giuseppe Conte. In 2018, she was elected in the Italian Senate for ...
, Italian Minister of Agriculture
*
Teresa Cheng (politician), Hong Kong Justice Minister
*
Teresa Gutierrez, American politician
*
Teresa Heinz (born 1938), former widow of U.S. Senator H. John Heinz III; wife of Senator John Kerry
*
Teresa Isaac
Teresa Isaac, an American politician, served as mayor of Lexington, Kentucky from 2003 to 2007.
Political life
Isaac was elected to the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government council as an At-Large member in 1988. In 1992, she was reelected to ...
, American politician, former mayor of Lexington, Kentucky
*
Teresa Kok, Malaysian Member of Parliament
*
Theresa May, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party; UK Member of Parliament
*
Teresa Mosqueda, American politician
*
Teresa Pearce, former UK Member of Parliament
*
Teresa Reyes Sahagún
Teresa Guadalupe Reyes Sahagún (born 15 October 1963) is a Mexican politician from the Labor Party. From 2009 to 2012 she served as Deputy of the LXI Legislature of the Mexican Congress representing the State of Mexico
The State of Mexico ( ...
, Mexican politician
*
Teresa Ribera (born 1969), Spanish jurist, university professor and politician
*
Teresa Riera (born 1950), Spanish politician
*
Teresa Rodríguez, Spanish politician
*
Teresa Tomlinson, American politician
*
Theresa Villiers, UK Member of Parliament
*
Teresa Wat
Teresa Wat (, born 1949 or 1950) is a Canadian politician who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2013 provincial election. She represents the electoral district of Richmond North Centre as a member of the Britis ...
, Canadian member of the
Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the deliberative assembly of the Parliament of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Legislative Assembly meets in Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria. Members ar ...
In religion:
*
List of saints named Teresa
*
Teresa Chikaba, Ghanaian princess declared Venerable by the Catholic Church
*
Teresa Demjanovich, American nun of the Sisters of Charity
In sports:
*
Teresa Ciepły
Teresa Barbara Ciepły (''née'' Wieczorek; 19 October 1937 – 8 March 2006) was a Polish sprinter and hurdler. She was a bronze Olympic medalist in the 4×100 metre relay at the 1960 Summer Olympics. Two years later she won gold medals ...
, Polish sprinter
*
Teresa Earnhardt, widow of racing legend Dale Earnhardt, also known as the "wicked witch" by much of the NASCAR fandom
*
Teresa Edwards, American basketball player
*
Tereza Kmochová
Tereza Kmochová (born 26 September 1990) is a Czech deaf female alpine skier. She has represented Czech Republic in Winter Deaflympics, Winter Universiade and in the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. She generally competes in the women's com ...
, Czech alpine skier
*
Teresa Machado
Teresa Machado (22 July 1969 – 28 February 2020) was a Portuguese discus thrower and shot put
The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put c ...
, Portuguese athlete
*
Teresa Piccini, Mexican ten-pin bowler
*
Teresa Rivera
Teresa Rivera Pastrana (born April 24, 1966) is a former female backstroke and freestyle swimming, freestyle swimming (sport), swimmer from Mexico. She participated in two consecutive Summer Olympics for her native country, starting in 1980. Her ...
, Mexican swimmer
*
Teresa Rohmann, German medley swimmer
*
Teresa Ruiz, American State Senator from New Jersey
*
Teresa Vaill, American racewalker
*
Theresa Zabell, Spanish sailor
other:
*
Teresa Cormack
Teresa Maida Cormack (18 June 1981 – 19 June 1987) was a six-year-old murder victim from Napier, New Zealand. After fifteen years, advances in genetic analysis led to conviction of Jules Mikus (28 September 1958 – 6 December 2019) for t ...
, murder victim from New Zealand
*
Theresa Lawson (1951-2014), Australian convicted of embezzlement
*
Teresa Magbanua, Filipino schoolteacher and revolutionary
*
Teresa Rodrigo (1956-2020), Spanish scientist
*
Teresa Sampsonia
Teresa Sampsonia (born Sampsonia; after marriage Lady Shirley, 1589–1668) was an Iranian noblewoman of the Safavid Empire of Iran. She was the wife of Elizabethan English adventurer Robert Shirley, whom she accompanied on his travels and em ...
, Persian noblewoman, diplomat, adventuress
*
Teresa Webber
Mary Teresa Josephine Webber, is a British palaeographer, medievalist, and academic. She has been a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge since 1997 and Professor of Palaeography at the Faculty of History, University of Cambridge since 2018. Webbe ...
, British palaeographer, medievalist, and academic
*
Teresa Sickles
Teresa Bagioli Sickles (1836 – February 5, 1867) was the wife of Democratic New York State Assemblyman, U.S. Representative, and later U.S. Army Major General Daniel E. Sickles. She gained notoriety in 1859, when her husband murdered her lover, ...
, wife of Daniel Edgar Sickles, who stood trial for killing her lover
Fictional characters
*Teresa
Tracy Bond (née Di Vicenzo), Bond girl and wife of James Bond in the film ''
On Her Majesty's Secret Service On Her Majesty's Secret Service may refer to:
* ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (novel), a 1963 novel by Ian Fleming
* ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (film), a 1969 film adaptation of the novel
** ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (sou ...
''
*
Teresa Bryant, on the British soap opera ''Coronation Street''
*Theresa Burke, wife of main character Ethan Burke on the American TV series ''
Wayward Pines''
*
Teresa Cammeniti, on the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours''
*Theresa Rourke Cassidy, alter-ego of the ''Marvel Comics'' heroine
Siryn
*Teresa Chávez, protagonist and villain from the TV series
''Teresa''
*Theresa "Tess" Durbeyfield, title character of Thomas Hardy's novel ''
Tess of the d'Urbervilles''
*Theresa Fowler, from the animated TV series ''
Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja''
*Theresa "Tessa" Gray, protagonist and main character of ''
The Infernal Devices'' novel series by Cassandra Clare
*
Teresa Lisbon, one of the main characters in the drama ''
The Mentalist''
*
Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald, a main character in the soap opera ''Passions''
*Theresa
Terri McGreggor
'' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' is a Canadian teen drama television series created by Linda Schuyler and Yan Moore. The series is now considered the first incarnation and premiered on CTV on October 14, 2001, and then ended on MTV Canada and ...
, in ''Degrassi: The Next Generation''
*
Theresa McQueen, from the British soap opera ''Hollyoaks''
*
Teresa Moreno
Sharpe is a series of historical fiction stories by Bernard Cornwell centred on the character of Richard Sharpe. Cornwell's series (composed of several novels and short stories) charts Sharpe's progress in the British Army during the Napoleonic ...
, wife of Richard Sharpe in Bernard Cornwell's ''Sharpe'' series of historical fiction
*Teresa Parker, long lost younger sister of
Peter Parker / Spider-Man from
Marvel Comics.
*
Theresa Russo, from ''
Wizards of Waverly Place''
*Theresa Spencer, girlfriend and research partner of the character
Daniel Faraday from the TV series ''
Lost''
*
Teresa Wisemail, from the PlayStation role-playing game ''Suikoden II''
*Theresa, an immortal seeress, one of the main characters in the ''
Fable'' video game series
*
Teresa (Barbie), a fashion doll and
Barbie's best friend
*Teresa, from
James Dashner's book series ''
The Maze Runner''
*Tereza, from Milan Kundera's novel ''
The Unbearable Lightness of Being''
*Theresa (a.k.a. The Fighter), one of the main characters from the Canadian animated series ''
Class of the Titans''
*Teresa of Telezart, important character from the second series of the long-running space opera franchise ''
Space Battleship Yamato''
*
Teresa of the Faint Smile, in ''Claymore''
*
Boos, known in Japan as Teresa, are ghosts from the Mario and Yoshi series of video games.
*Teresa Mendoza, protagonist and drug cartel leader from
Queen of the South
*Theresa Keller, a new girl from the children's program
Heidi (2015 TV series)
''Heidi'' is a computer animated children's television series, based indirectly on the 1881 novel ''Heidi'' by Johanna Spyri. The original 2007 television series was a Swiss-French-Italian-Australian co-production in 27 episodes of 26 minutes.
...
*Theresa Servopoulos, from ''
The Last of Us''
See also
*
Maria Theresa (disambiguation)
*
Marie Thérèse (disambiguation)
*
Therese (disambiguation)
*
Theresia
Theresia is the usual Dutch and German form of the name Teresa, and may refer to:
* Theresia of Dietrichstein (1768–1822), German countess and noted beauty
* Edith Stein (1891–1942), also known as St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, German Jewi ...
*
Terisa
*
Tirzah (disambiguation) Tirzah or Thyrza may refer to:
* Tirzah (name)
* ''To Tirzah'', a poem by William Blake
* Tirzah (ancient city)
* Tirzah Stream
* Tirzah, South Carolina, a city of South Carolina
* the minor planet 267 Tirza
* the novel ''Thyrza'' by George Gissin ...
Notes
{{given name
Feminine given names
English feminine given names
Italian feminine given names
Lithuanian feminine given names
Polish feminine given names
Portuguese feminine given names
Spanish feminine given names