Tekla
From the Greek for "god's glory". Only about 600 women in Poland carry it, so meeting a Tekla sticks with you, even if a handful of girls still get the name each year.
Tekla Pronunciation
Tekla is pronounced TEK-lah (/ˈtɛkla/).
What Tekla means
Where Tekla comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
The name Tekla comes from Greek, built from theos, meaning god, and kleos, meaning glory. Together they read as "god's glory," in Polish chwała boga. Kleos is the same word Homer used for the renown a hero won and left behind him.
Much of the name's reach across Europe traces to one figure. Thecla of Iconium was, in the apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla, a young convert who followed the apostle Paul and survived several attempts on her life. The early church counted her among its saints. Her feast landed in late September, and in Poland the name day settled on the 23rd.
A girl named Tekla today shares that Greek root with a second-century story. The meaning holds. On a school register in September, the name surfaces rarely, sitting a little apart from the newer favourites. The two roots stay put: theos and kleos, god and glory.
When Tekla celebrates name day
Tekla appears 5 times in the Polish name day calendar, 2 of them as a main name, the first on 30 August.
The days Polish calendars list this name on. By custom you celebrate one of them, usually the first after your birthday.
Rarer dates. Only the most complete calendars add this name on these days. Most skip them, so hardly anyone celebrates then.
How many people are named Tekla
1 in 37636 women in Poland is named Tekla. 599 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1218 among female names.
Tekla's popularity over time
3 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #1367 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2018. Still the #1218 name among living women, even as it slips to #1367 among newborns.
Where Tekla is most popular
Tekla is most popular in Masovian, 336% above the national average (5 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Silesian (+171%).
Tekla as a middle name
Tekla is a first name for 599 women in Poland and a middle name for another 1,380, a 30/70 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 226th, between Bogna (1,388) and Klementyna (1,378).
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#224 Elena1,389
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#225 Bogna1,388
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#226 Tekla1,380
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#227 Klementyna1,378
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#228 Lucja1,356