Thekla

THEHK-luh

Greek

"fame of God"

Thekla Origin and Meaning

The name Thekla is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "fame of God".

Deriving from the ancient Greek name, Theokleia, Thekla is a contracted form that appears in the New Testament. According to the Acts of Paul, Thekla (or Thecla) is a 1st century saint and the first virgin martyr who angers her mother and her suitor by vowing to remain chaste after hearing Paul speak.

The name has an unusual and distinctive sound that will likely divide crowds, but it would make a memorable choice. International variants include: Tekla, used in a number of European countries, Fyokla, used in Russian, Thècle used in French, and Tegla in Welsh.

Notable namesakes include Norwegian botanist Thekla Rsevoll, architect (and 2nd woman in Germany to ever get a degree in the field) Thekla Schild, and author, suffragette, and artist, Thekla M. Bernays.

This name ranked in the US Top 1000 back in the late 19th century, but has featured sporadically in the stats ever since -- its last appearance being in 2021, when it was given to 6 girls. The similar Tekla fairs better, given to around 5 girls each year.

Thekla Rank in US Top 1000

# 895 in the US

20 Names Similar to Thekla

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Thekla.

• Caridad
• Tadita
• Fredrico
• Pascalette
• Quarrie
• Luiseach
• Matthaiso
• Ninah
• Fearghas
• Julinka
• Maraline
• Lediana
• Luiz
• Erminne
• Reginy
• Nenah
• Nachmaniya
• Sashenka
• Melisa
• Anfernee

Famous People Named Thekla

• Thekla Empress consort of Michael II of the Byzantine Empire
• Thekla Simona Gelsomina Reuten Dutch actress
• Thekla Schild German architect
• Thekla Roth British model and actress
• Thekla Levinia Andrietta Knös Swedish poet
• Thekla Susanne Ragnhild Resvoll Norwegian botanist
• Maria Anna Thekla "Marianne" Mozart cousin of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Thekla in Pop Culture

• Thekla Mustard a character in Gregory Maguire's Hamlet Chronicles book series
• Thekla of Mansfeld character in G. A. Henty's, The Lion of the North
• "Thekla (eine Geisterstimme) " song by Franz Schubert
• Teckla Minnau handmaiden to Senator Padme Amidala in the TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars