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Tabitha

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Tabitha (/ˈtæbɪθə/, Koine Greek Ταβιθά tabitha, Aramaic טביתא tabitha "female gazelle") is an English feminine given name, originating with (or made popular through) Tabitha (Dorcas), mentioned in the New Testament Acts 9:36.

01In the Bible

Tabitha (also known as Dorcas, the Greek equivalent of the name, from δορκάς dorkas "≈ gazelle"), is a woman mentioned in the New Testament. The English name is derived from an Aramaic word, טביתא/ܛܒܝܬܐ ṭaḇīṯā "[female] gazelle", cf. Hebrew: צְבִיָּה Tzviya (classical ṣəḇīyāh). It is a biblical name from Acts of the Apostles (Acts 9:36), which in the original Greek was Ταβιθά, in which Tabitha, a benevolent woman, dies, then gets resurrected by Peter the Apostle.

02Use in the United States and the United Kingdom

The name was common in 18th century New England, and of those born between 1718 and 1745, ranked about 31st as most common female given names, about 0.56% of the population. The name gained a resurgence in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s, when it was ranked among the 200 most popular names for girls. The character Tabitha Stephens, a child witch on the 1960s television situation comedy Bewitched, raised the profile of the name. It was ranked among the 1,000 most popular names for girls born in the United States until 2016 and has since declined in usage. There were 142 American girls born in 2024 who were given the name.

The name has ranked among the 300 most popular name for girls in England and Wales between 1996 and 2020.

03People with the name Tabitha

Tabitha

Tabatha

04Places with the name Tabatha

  • Tabatha, the birth place of Hilarion in Gaza

05Fictional characters

Comics

Literature

  • Tabitha Twitchit, an anthropomorphic cat who features in the books of Beatrix Potter

Movies and television

Watch videos about TabithaExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Tabitha, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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