UK girl's name
Tea
A feminine name derived from the word for the aromatic beverage.
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2021. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Tea is a girl's name in the UK records. People looking for Tea popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2021 in this profile. In that release it ranked #5581, with 3 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2001, with 31 births.
This profile covers 210 England and Wales registrations across 22 recorded years from 1996 to 2021. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 10% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 219 living people in the UK are called Tea. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2022 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Tea ranked #5581 for girls in England and Wales in 2021, with 3 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 2001, when 31 girls were registered as Tea.
- • Tea ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #348 in 2000.
- • About 219 living people in the UK are estimated to have Tea as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#5581
2021
Births in 2021
3
Latest year
Peak year
2001
31 births
Estimated living
219
2026
Meaning
What does Tea mean?
The name Tea is believed to have its origins in Southeast Asia, where the tea plant is native. The word "tea" is thought to be derived from the Amoy dialect word "tê," which was used to refer to the plant and its leaves.
In ancient Chinese texts, the name Tea is mentioned as early as the 3rd century BCE, when the scholar Confucius is said to have written about the medicinal and spiritual properties of the tea plant. The name was closely associated with the tea culture that developed in China and later spread to other parts of Asia and the world.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Tea was Tea Yin, a Chinese Buddhist monk who lived in the 6th century CE. He is credited with introducing the practice of tea cultivation and consumption to Japan, where it became an integral part of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony.
In the 17th century, a Chinese woman named Tea Leoni became famous for her role in the Dutch East India Company's trade in tea. She was instrumental in establishing the tea trade between China and Europe, which helped to popularize the beverage in the West.
Another notable figure with the name Tea was Tea Tephi, an ancient Irish princess who, according to legend, brought the Stone of Scone (also known as the Stone of Destiny) from Israel to Ireland in the 6th century BCE. This stone was later used in the coronation of Scottish monarchs.
In more recent history, Tea Leoni, an American actress born in 1966, has popularized the name through her successful career in film and television. She is best known for her roles in movies such as "Deep Impact" and "The Family Man."
Tea Obreht, a Serbian-American author born in 1985, has also brought attention to the name with her critically acclaimed debut novel "The Tiger's Wife," which won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2011.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Tea over time
The chart below shows babies named Tea registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2021. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Tea, the clearest high point is 2001. The latest England and Wales figure is 3 births in 2021, compared with 31 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tea by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Tea was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #5581 | 3 | 1 |
| 2010s | #4426 | 34 | 7 |
| 2000s | #1796 | 138 | 10 |
| 1990s | #2260 | 35 | 4 |
Geography
Where Tea is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Tea. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Tea ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #348 in 2000.
Across the UK
Tea in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#555 in 2004
2 years of NRS records, 7 total registered
Northern Ireland (NISRA)
#348 in 2000
1 years of NISRA records, 3 total registered
Related
Names similar to Tea
- Tia 15,569
- Thea 12,888
- Tilly 11,524
- Taylor 7,401
- Tegan 6,583
- Tabitha 6,462
- Talia 5,198
- Tara 5,114
- Tiffany 4,653
- Tallulah 4,442
- Tiana 3,570
- Tamara 3,405
FAQ
Tea: questions and answers
How popular is the name Tea in the UK right now?
In 2021, Tea was ranked #5581 for girls in England and Wales, with 3 births registered.
When was Tea most popular?
The peak year on record was 2001, with 31 babies registered as Tea in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Tea?
A feminine name derived from the word for the aromatic beverage.
How many people are called Tea in the UK?
A total of 210 babies have been registered as Tea across the 22 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 7 more in Scotland and 3 in Northern Ireland.
Where is Tea most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Tea ranks best in Northern Ireland, where it placed #348 in 2000. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.