The Baby Name Wizard

Reader Contributions

Contribute to, or edit, this collection of community wisdom on the name Tessa!

Comments and insights on the name Tessa: | Edit

Tessa spelled backwards is "Asset" -- something of value.

Personal experiences with the name Tessa: | Edit

Having the name Tessa is really nice, everyone remembers it easily and there aren't many ways that people can pick on you for it. When I was little, the best anyone could come up with was tissue or teapot. Tessa's a good name that can mean Countess, or the Harvester. The name Tessa is very enjoyable.

Nicknames for Tessa: | Edit

Tess, Tessie, Teddy, Tettabear, Tallulah, Bess, Elsie

Meanings and history of the name Tessa: | Edit

Although Tessa CAN be a nickname for Theresa and is often mistakenly tagged as principally a variant (much like Rose CAN be a nickname for the non-related name Rosamund), it has a separate etymology as a descendant of the Greek word for "four". It's related to the words tesselation and tessera.

Tessa has also been associated with Quintessa, an English language form of Quintella, from a Roman given name, which means 5th born or 5th born daughter.

Famous real-life people named Tessa: | Edit

Tessa Dahl (originally Chantal), daughter of writer Roald Dahl and mother of model Sophie Dahl.

Tessa in song, story & screen: | Edit

Tessa Sanderson, Gold medal-winning, British Olympic Track & Field athlete. Honoured by Her Majesty the Queen with the citation CBE.
Tessa Campinelli, character on the TV series Degrassi High
Tessa, aka Sage, character in Marvel's X-Men comics