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 [ 3 syll. ta-bit-ha, tab-i-tha ] The girl name Tabitha is pronounced TAEBahTHah KEY. Tabitha is of Aramaic origin, and it is used largely in the English and German languages. Biblical name derived literally from the element tabitha which means 'gazelle, doe, roe'. The name was borne in the Bible by a charitable Christian woman raised from the dead by the apostle Peter; her name was also recorded as the Greek form Dorcas. It was adopted by the English Puritans in the 17th century. It later suffered a decline in use via association with the character of the motherly cat in the children's books by the English author Beatrix Potter in the early 19th century. Through her influence, the name has commonly been bestowed on cats in England. Variations of the name include the English names Tab, Tabaith, Tabbi, Tabetith, Tabithia, Tabtha, Tebeth, Thabitha, and Tobitha. Other forms of Tabitha include the pet forms Tabbie (English), Tabby (English), and Tabea (German), and the variant spellings Tabatha (English), Tabbatha (English), Tabbetha (English), Tabbitha (English), Tabetha (English), Tabita (English and German), Tabithe (English), and Tabytha (English). See also the related form, the English Dorcas. Tabitha is fairly popular as a baby name for girls. The name jumped in popularity from the 1960s up to the 1970s; prior to that, it was of only infrequent use. At the modest peak of its usage in 1978, 0.140% of baby girls were given the name Tabitha. It ranked at #126 then. The baby name has since declined in popularity. In 2008, it ranked at #591 with a usage of 0.025%, but it was nonetheless the most widely used out of all girl names in its group. Baby names that sound like Tabitha include the English Tabatha, the English Tabbatha, the English Tabbetha, the English Tabbitha, the English Tabetha, the English Tabetith, the English and German Tabita, the English Tabytha, the English Thabitha, the English Tobitha, the English Tabaith, the English Tabithe, the English Tabithia, the English Tabtha, the English Tebeth, and the Hebrew Tobit. KEY: Pronunciation for Tabitha: T as in "tea (T.IY)" ; AE as in "at (AE.T)" ; B as in "be (B.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; TH as in "theta (TH.EY.T.AH)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)"   |
