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!" Some sources say the Aramaic word could be translated as little lamb, while others say the word refers to a young girl. Literal translations of the Bible (Literal Standard, Young's Literal etc.) translate Talitha as damsel, maiden, or simply girl, rather than "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. 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. The name ranked 1,108 among names given to American girls born in 1881.

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. 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, thirty-five newborn American girls were given the name in 2022, and sixty newborn American girls were given the name in 2023.

Eight newborn Canadian girls were called Talitha in 2021.

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

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.

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
 * 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