Still thinking about Theresa

Hey Berries.

Some days ago I reached out for your opinion about [name_f]Theresa[/name_f], which is very popular in [name_f]Austria[/name_f] and [name_m]Germany[/name_m] (and spelled slightly different in other countries as well) but is out of the top 1000 in the US. Since we consider to move to the U.S. in the next years I am worrying whether [name_f]Theresa[/name_f] will be the best choice for our baby, so now I think about other options.

Anyhow, what I am curious about is why [name_f]Theresa[/name_f] became so unpopular in the U.S. As an European I consider it to be as classic as [name_f]Victoria[/name_f], [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f], [name_u]Maria[/name_u] etc. All of the mentioned names were widely used in our parents and grandparents generations and are still beloved by new parents. What is wrong with [name_f]Theresa[/name_f]? Is it the sound? Are there negative associations (apart from [name_f]Theresa[/name_f] may - this one does not count, since Theresas downfall began long before [name_f]Theresa[/name_f] [name_f]May[/name_f]).

Thank you in advance :blush:

There is nothing wrong with [name_f]Theresa[/name_f]. Maybe it is a name that has gone out of fashion. [name_f]My[/name_f] second daughter was called [name_f]Melissa[/name_f] and I find people calling it stale and out of fashion. I still love the name, especially as my daughter died 8 years ago. To say [name_f]Melissa[/name_f] gives me much joy. If you love [name_f]Theresa[/name_f] use it. donā€™t worry what others think. It is a classic beautiful name.

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Iā€™m with you, I think [name_f]Theresa[/name_f] is delightful. It reads as a classic to me as well. It has long usage and historical roots, and none of the individual sounds seem linked to a certain era. Iā€™m an Australian myself and I can only speculate why [name_f]Theresa[/name_f]ā€™s popularity dropped off or why it might be seen differently in the US than in Europe, but I have a few ideas.

I notice in the US name age calculators that a person named [name_f]Theresa[/name_f] is likely aged between her late forties and fifties, so that could be contributing to the feeling that itā€™s not quite ready to used. [name_f]Tessa[/name_f] also started being used as a first name a lot more from the 70s onwards. It feels like a fresh alternative so perhaps that dynamic is putting [name_f]Theresa[/name_f] in a different light, as formal or outdated.

But I imagine there would probably be other aspects at play, like immigration patterns from European countries like [name_f]Italy[/name_f], whether the next generations passed on family names or chose names that would fit in. Thereā€™s the association to Mother [name_f]Teresa[/name_f], while I wouldnā€™t say thatā€™s negative, it could be linked to Catholicism and might feel too ā€˜bigā€™ or serious a name for a new born.

Theresa is a classic but I think it just doesnā€™t have that universally popular vibe of [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] and [name_f]Rebekah[/name_f] I think people just donā€™t necessarily gravitate towards the name [name_f]Theresa[/name_f]. Maybe people think itā€™s dated? But honestly if you love [name_f]Theresa[/name_f] use it! [name_f]Theresa[/name_f] is such a feminine classy choice and I think itā€™s a good thing that the name is unpopular in the country your considering moving too at least she wonā€™t have to be [name_f]Theresa[/name_f] M or whatever

[name_f]Theresa[/name_f] simply faded from popularity as it felt more dated. Itā€™s not considered as classic and evergreen as [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] here.

[name_f]Theresa[/name_f] is a great name! I think it would be fresh and unexpected on a little girl today. Iā€™d definitely encourage you to stick with it. :slight_smile:

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I truly had no idea [name_f]Theresa[/name_f] was out of the top 1000 in the US, I know several including some my age (20s), so I totally donā€™t see it as dated or rare. The young adult Theresas I know do go by [name_f]Tess[/name_f] or [name_f]Tessa[/name_f], while the older ones go by [name_f]Theresa[/name_f] or [name_f]Terri[/name_f]. I also know or know of a few children named [name_f]Tess[/name_f] or [name_f]Tessa[/name_f], and I guess I always assumed their full name was [name_f]Theresa[/name_f] because thatā€™s the case for the somewhat older people named [name_f]Tess[/name_f] I know. But I guess [name_f]Tessa[/name_f] is much more common as the given name now, which is a shame because I really do think [name_f]Theresa[/name_f] is a gorgeous classic and giving it as the full FN gives a little [name_f]Tess[/name_f]/Tessa way more options as she grows.

Also I do notice from checking out the charts that the variant Teresa is still in the top 1000, although itā€™s also dropped significantly over time, and both names peaked in the 1960s and were relatively high through the 1990s. I think itā€™s familiar enough and has a long enough pattern of use that it would be perfectly usable today and I really donā€™t think it feels dated even if it peaked in a particular generation.

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^^All of this. I really donā€™t think thereā€™s a particular reason it rose and fell, other than that it happens to pretty much all names except a very select few evergreen classics. Which means I also think itā€™ll come backā€“although probably not for a few more decades based on the ā€œ100 year rule.ā€ So really, youā€™d be ahead of the curve on a lovely name, imo!

I canā€™t think of any negative associations with [name_f]Theresa[/name_f]. I do associate it with Catholicism (much less so for short forms [name_f]Tessa[/name_f]/Tess for whatever reason), but that could even be a benefit depending what youā€™re looking for!

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I see nothing wrong with [name_f]Theresa[/name_f], itā€™s lovely and very usable. I much prefer it to [name_f]Tess[/name_f] or [name_f]Tessa[/name_f].

Theresa doesnā€™t have any negative associations as far as I can tell, people just started naming their babies [name_f]Tess[/name_f] and [name_f]Tessa[/name_f] instead. [name_f]Theresa[/name_f] is a beautiful name.

Thank you for the tipp with the age name calculator. Very interesting. [name_f]Theresa[/name_f]/Teresa was the ā€ž[name_f]Emma[/name_f]ā€œ of the 60ies with yearly about 25000 girls being named that name. No wonder people became tired of hearing it :smile:

Theresa was very popular I think in the 50ā€™s. Itā€™s a nice name, but hasnā€™t had time to bounce back in popularity yet. There are many saints by this name, including the [name_m]Little[/name_m] [name_f]Flower[/name_f] and St. [name_f]Theresa[/name_f] of [name_f]Avila[/name_f].

I donā€™t live in the US but I can tell you that in the UK [name_f]Theresa[/name_f] was popular around the 1950s but it has since fallen out of fashion. I canā€™t pinpoint one specific reason for this. [name_f]My[/name_f] first theory is that in this country it was never a classic name in the same sense as [name_f]Catherine[/name_f], [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] or [name_f]Anna[/name_f], which perhaps made it susceptible to becoming ā€œdatedā€. [name_f]My[/name_f] second theory is that the association with Mother [name_f]Teresa[/name_f] may have given the name a religious Catholic image and made non-Catholic or secular parents less inclined to choose it.

But on the whole, I think [name_f]Theresa[/name_f] is a nice name, it has plenty of interesting namesakes and I see no reason why it wouldnā€™t be usable.

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