Given name & surname · also Serbo-Croatian
Tesla
“adze”
Tesla is a surname from Serbo-Croatian, ultimately from Proto-Slavic. It is used in English and Serbo-Croatian.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Tesla is a romanization of Тесла. Тесла goes back to a word meaning “adze.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Tesla comes from Serbo-Croatian, and ultimately from Proto-Slavic.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
From Serbo-Croatian Tesla//Тесла, from Proto-Slavic *tesla.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1985. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Tesla through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 2,687
- 98 boys · 2,589 girls
- Most popular year
- 2016
- 180 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −89%
- Cooling
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 13 in 2023. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for girls was 167 in 2015. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 2,451 as a first name in 2020; 188 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Tesla’s family of names
In English usage, Tesla as a surname shares an earlier linguistic root with TELA. In Greek usage, Tesla as a surname is a transliteration of Τέσλα. In English usage, Tesla as a surname shares a linguistic root with the Dutch form DISSEL.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Tesla has relatives in 8 languages. Lines run from its Proto-Slavic roots to each of them.
7 related names in 8 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 4
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 5
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
Similar names
If you love Tesla, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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“the”
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Mariska
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“daughter born in spring”
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