Tessa

Diminutive of Theresa
"to reap, to gather"

Tessa Origin and Meaning

The name Tessa is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "to reap, to gather".

Tessa is one of those golden names that's been popular but not TOO popular for several decades now. Tessa has ranked in the Top 500 in the US since 1981 but has risen only once above Number 200.

Among baby girl names, Tessa's much more popular than either mother name Theresa or shorter form Tess. Today, many people may not even remember that Tessa originated as a short form of Theresa as it stands quite nicely on its own.

Tessa is far more popular and more durable than sister name Tess, which had a heyday in the 1990s but fell out of the Top 1000 in 2013.

# 323 in the US

Tessa Rank in US Top 1000

# 205 on Nameberry

Tessa Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Tessa Popularity

Famous People Named Tessa

  • Tessa Lynne Thompson
    American actress
  • Tessa De Loo
    pen name of Johanna Martina "Tineke" Duyvené de Wit, Dutch novelist
  • Tessa Rumsey
    American poet
  • Tessa Allen
    American actress
  • Tessa Virtue
    Canadian Olympic ice dancer
  • Tessa Grady
    American actress
  • Tessa Bonhomme
    Canadian ice hockey player
  • Tessa Jane Jowell
    English MP and Minister for the Olympics
  • Tessa Jane Munt
    English MP
  • Tessa Netting
    YouTuber and actress
  • Chantal Sophia "Tessa" Dahl
    English novelist and actress; daughter of novelist Roald Dahl
  • Tessa Ferrer (b. 1986)
    daughter of singer Debby Boone and actor Gabriel Ferrer
  • Tessa Violet Williams
    YouTube vlogger and singer,songwriter
  • Tessa Brooks
    American dancer and YouTuber

Tessa in Pop Culture

  • Theresa "Tessa" Gray
    character in The Infernal Devices and Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare
  • Tessa O'Connell
    main character in The Bad Boy Series by Blair Holden
  • Tessa Young
    main character in The After Series by Anna Todd
  • Tessa Quayle
    main character in film "The Constant Gardener"
  • Tessa Altman
    character on TV's "Suburgatory"
  • Tessa Noël
    character on TV's "Highlander: The Series"
  • Tessa
    "contadina," mistress to Tito Melema, in Romola (1862) by George Eliot
  • Tessa
    "contadina" who marries Giuseppe Palmieri in the Gilbert and Sullivan opera The Gondoliers (1889)
  • Tessa Reynolds
    main character in "Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall" by Wendy Mass
  • Tessa Scott
    main character in "Before I Die" and film "Now is Good"
  • Tessa
    character in the Red Earth video game series
  • Teletha "Tessa" Testarossa
    character in anime/manga "Full Metal Panic"
  • Tessa
    reaper on Supernatural
  • Tessa
    main character in blog series "Dark Intensions" and "Dark Vows"
  • Tessa
    character on Showtime's "Masters of Sex"
  • Tessa Campanelli
    minor character on "Degrassi Junior High" and "Degrassi High", and major character in "Degrassi: School's Out!"
  • Tessa Dickinson
    character from "100 Days of Sunlight" by Abbie Emmons
  • Tessa
    Tom Holland’s dog