Talitha (given name)

Talitha (Classical Syriac: ܛܠܝܼܬ݂ܵܐ/ܛܠܻܝܬ݂ܳܐ ṭlīṯā or ṭlīṯō) is an uncommon feminine name given in reference to the Biblical story in the Gospel of Mark in which Jesus Christ was said to have resurrected a dead child with the words "Talitha cumi" or "Talitha kum" or "Talitha koum," often translated as "Little girl, I say to you, arise!"[1] [2] Some sources say the Aramaic word could be translated as little lamb, while others say the word refers to a young girl.[3] [4]

Raising of Jairus’s daughter by Ernesto Fontana.
Resurrection of the daughter of Jairus, by Victor-Oscar Guétin, 1902.
For other uses and notable people with this name, see Talitha (disambiguation).
Talitha
Talitha is a name given in reference to the raising of the daughter of Jairus in the Gospel of Mark, depicted in this 1878 painting by Gabriel Max.
PronunciationEnglish: /təˈliː.θə/, English: /ˈtæl.ɪ.θə/, English: /ˈtɑːlˌiː.tɑː/
Genderfemale
Origin
Word/nameAramaic
Meaning"little girl"

History of usage

It was among many names taken from the Bible that were used by Puritans in the American colonial era. Talitha Cumi Elderkin Stiles, a schoolteacher, born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1779, was one of only three original settlers of Cleveland who stayed there over the first winter of 1796–1797 when, attended by Seneca Native American women, she gave birth to Charles Stiles, the first white child born in the Western Reserve.[5][6][7] Six decades later, eleven-year-old Talitha Dunlap was among the between 120 and 140 men, women and children who were killed during the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre.[8] The name ranked 1,108 among names given to American girls born in 1881.[9] The name was also occasionally used in England by 1861, when the christening of a girl named Talitha-Cumi People was reported in The Times.[10] It remains in occasional use in the United States and other countries. Sixty-eight newborn American girls were given the name in 2020, fifty-one newborn American girls were given the name in 2021 and thirty-five newborn American girls were given the name in 2022.[11]

Eight newborn Canadian girls were called Talitha in 2021.[12]

In Brazil, Talita (or Talitha/Thalita) was the 100th most common name for newborn girls in 2009.[13]

Star name

While the personal name is most often derived from the Biblical story, Talitha is also the name of two stars, Talitha Borealis and Talitha Australis, in the Ursa Major constellation. The names of the stars are derived from the Arabic word for 'third' in the phrase القفزة الثالثة (al-qafzah al-thālithah) meaning 'The third leap [of the gazelle]', referring to an Arabic story about a startled gazelle which leapt three times to different points in the constellation.[14]

People
  • Talitha Bateman (born 2001), American actress
  • Talitha Cummins, Australian journalist
  • Talitha Diggs (born 2002), American athlete
  • Talitha Espiritu, Filipino author and academic known for her work on cinema during the Marcos dictatorship
  • Talitha Gerlach (1896-1995), American YWCA worker who spent most of her life as a social worker in Shanghai, China, where she died
  • Talitha Getty (1940-1971), Dutch actress, socialite, and model who was regarded as a style icon of the late 1960s
  • Talitha Irakau (born 1995), Papua New Guinean footballer who plays as a defender
  • Talitha MacKenzie, Scottish-American world music recording artist, and historical dance and music teacher and performer
  • Talitha Stevenson (born 1977), British author and journalist
  • Talitha Washington (born 1974), American mathematician and academic

References
  • Bardsley, Charles Wareing Endell (1880). Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature Chatto and Windus.

Notes
  1. Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). Oxford Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. p. 256. ISBN 0-19-861060-2.
  2. Campbell, Mike. "Meaning, origin and history of the name Talitha". Behind the Name. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  3. Feldmeier, Peter (18 June 2012). "Little Lamb, Arise". americamagazine.org. America: The Jesuit Review. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  4. Braswell, Lauren (2021). "Linking Jairus' Daughter, The Hemorrhaging Woman, and Jesus in the Gospel of Mark" (PDF). lagrange.edu. Citations Journal of Undergraduate Research 2021, Volume 18, LaGrange College. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  5. Wickham, Gertrude Van Rensselaer (1899). "The Pioneer Mothers of Cleveland". Annals of the Early Settlers Association of Cuyahoga County. Cleveland: J.B. Savage. 4 (1): 490. Retrieved January 4, 2015.
  6. Wickham, Gertrude Van Rensselaer (1914). The Pioneer Families of Cleveland 1796–1840. Cleveland: Evangelical Publishing. pp. 7–8. Retrieved January 4, 2015. talitha cumi stiles cleveland.
  7. Guild, Mary A. Stiles Paul (1892). The Stiles Family in America. Albany: J. Munsell's Sons. p. 217. Retrieved January 4, 2015. cleveland talitha cumi.
  8. Kirkman, Frank. "MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE LIST OF VICTIMS - UTAH MASSACRE VICTIMS - MORMON MASSACRE VICTIMS LIST". 1857massacre.com. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  9. OACT. "Popular Baby Names". Socialsecurity.gov. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  10. "Full text of "Curiosities of Puritan nomenclature"". archive.org. 1880. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  11. "Popular Baby Names". Ssa.gov. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  12. "First names at birth by sex at birth, selected indicators". www150.statcan.gc.ca. Statistics Canada. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  13. Júlia e Gabriel são os nomes de bebês mais comuns no Brasil, Folha de S. Paulo, Jan. 11, 2010.
  14. Keese, Karen (21 May 2009). "Whassup in the Milky Way?: Three Leaps of the Gazelle". Whassupinthemilkyway.blogspot.com. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
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