Do You Sing?

March is Women's History Month and my cousin, Sara Campbell (Remembering Those Who Came Before Us) challenged me to post 31 mini blogs about our female ancestors. Lisa Alzo at The Accidental Genealogist has compiled some prompts to make blogging about female ancestors a little easier.

March 3 — Do you share a first name with one of your female ancestors? Perhaps you were named for your great-grandmother, or your name follows a particular naming pattern. If not, then list the most unique or unusual female first name you’ve come across in your family tree.

As far as I know I don't share my first name with any of my female ancestors. I was born in the 1950s and was probably named after the singer Teresa Brewer. I really should confirm this with my mother. The name "Teresa" without an "h" was the 26th most popular girl's name in the year that I was born. The name hit its peak in 1962 with 9,137 per million babies. To give you some idea of how far the name has fallen in popularity: in 2014, there were 199 babies per million named "Teresa." As I made my way through elementary school, there was usually at least one other "T(h)eresa" in my class and sometimes more. 

I've never gone by a nickname; not Resa, Tessa, or Terri. I've had the spelling butchered in any number of creative ways: Terasa,  Terese, Teressa, Terressia,Tereza,Terezsa, Therese, Theressa. Baristas at Starbuck's have a field day writing my name on a cup. On days when I find all this particularly annoying, I've contemplated what I would change my name to if I wanted to go that far. But after mulling it over for a few minutes, I can't come up with anything better. Guess I'll keep it.