Tabitha: Meaning of Baby Name Tabitha

About the Name Tabitha

Tabitha is a name of Hebrew origin, derived from the Aramaic Tabitha, meaning gazelle — the swift, graceful antelope long associated in the ancient Near East with beauty and lightness of movement. The name appears in the New Testament's Acts of the Apostles, where Tabitha of Joppa was a disciple known for her charitable works; the Greek translation of her name given there is Dorcas, confirming the gazelle meaning directly. This biblical pedigree gave Tabitha currency throughout the Christian world, and it appeared in English records from the early modern period onward.

In the twentieth century the name gained a new layer of pop-cultural recognition through its use in long-running television, which helped sustain it in American awareness. In SSA records, Tabitha first entered the top-1000 in 2000 and immediately achieved its best ranking of #319 that same year, accumulating 9,326 top-1000 births across its tracked run. The name then declined gradually through the 2000s and 2010s: #914 with 297 births in 2014, #943 with 288 births in 2015, and a final tracked appearance at #932 with 295 births in 2016.

Recorded variants include Tab, Tabatha, Tabby, and Tabetha — a set that spans formal alternatives and affectionate shortenings. Tabitha's blend of biblical solemnity, a delicate zoological meaning, and an accessible three-syllable sound gives it a timeless quality that sits comfortably across both religious and secular naming contexts.

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.

Quick Facts About Tabitha

1,531

Hebrew baby names in our dictionary

836

Hebrew female names

187

7-letter T-names in our dictionary

369

T-female names total

2000–2016

years of US SSA records (17 total)

9,326

total US births named Tabitha (all years)

US Popularity History (2000–2016)

📉 Falling fast: Tabitha dropped 260 places in the US girls ranking over the last 5 years (#672 in 2011 → #932 in 2016).

Annual US births named Tabitha by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2000 with 992 girls named Tabitha (girl rank #319 that year).

Where it stands today: in 2016, ranked #932 for girls (295 US births). That's 613 places below its 2000 peak.

Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.

Where in the US Is Tabitha Most Popular?

Average girl-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's girls-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Tabitha the strongest states are Iowa, Colorado, Missouri.

Strongest girls-name states

#	State	Avg rank	Births
1	Iowa	#684	15
2	Colorado	#766	23
3	Missouri	#792	30
4	Utah	#830	15
5	Virginia	#833	38
6	Indiana	#856	40
7	Minnesota	#857	18
8	Pennsylvania	#879	71
9	Michigan	#952	37
10	Georgia	#1,043	29

Weakest girls-name states

#	State	Avg rank	Births
1	Florida	#1,078	42
2	Georgia	#1,043	29
3	Michigan	#952	37
4	Pennsylvania	#879	71
5	Minnesota	#857	18
6	Indiana	#856	40
7	Virginia	#833	38
8	Utah	#830	15
9	Missouri	#792	30
10	Colorado	#766	23

Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Tabitha in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.

Variant Forms

Name	Meaning	Gender	Origin
Tab	Brilliant	Male	German
Tabatha	Sweet And Gentle. One Who Cares.	Female	German
Tabetha	Variant Of Tabitha.	Female	English

Looking for names like Tabitha?

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Compare Tabitha to Other Popular Names

Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Tabitha against today's most popular girls-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).

Tabitha vs Olivia 210,124 births since 2014

Tabitha vs Emma 202,477 births since 2014

Tabitha vs Sophia 169,709 births since 2014

Tabitha vs Isabella 158,431 births since 2014

Tabitha vs Ava 157,356 births since 2014

Tabitha vs Charlotte 151,872 births since 2014

Tabitha vs Mia 149,779 births since 2014

Tabitha vs Amelia 142,728 births since 2014

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