what is the proper way to say and spell the name Teresa in spanish

Question

Could anyone answer this question for me as I was recently in Nicaragua and when I was asked my name and I would tell them. The people were confused and there is no way that anyone could say it. It became a garbled mess in their mouths. I was confused because I always thought that Teresa was a spanish name. What about mother Teresa? Maybe next time I go down there I will have a suitable answer for them that will make me appear a bit smarter than I was.

Answer 1

It's listed here in a list of Spanish names for girls, but beginning with TH. (I would have guessed differently.)

According to it, it is derived from the purely Spanish name, Therasia. (Which comes from a Greek word, therizo. (pronounced with a soft th and as if a D was before the Z. Accent on 2nd syllable- theridzo.)

funny, I can't thing of any other language that uses Ɵ ( /th/) with Theresa or it's forms...of course, i'm not an expert in any one of them, except my own glutteral stops and nasal-asofagus-fricativess - bdclark0423, Jan 1, 2010

I thought Teresa would be the Spanish spelling, and Italian too. It's not even on the list of Italian names. ? - Goyo, Jan 1, 2010

Answer 2

In the past I have given this advice to people asking what a name would be in spanish and that is what it is. Teresa is Teresa in spanish and english just like McDonalds is McDonalds and Best Buy is Best Buy. Hope this helps.

Well, Spanish McDonald's has the McPollo while English MCDs has McChicken....explain that one! - bdclark0423, Jan 1, 2010

Pollo is chicken in spanish and chicken is chicken in english. :) - Jason7R, Jan 1, 2010

so why is it McRoyale in France, but big mac everywhere else, and what are Obacos? - bdclark0423, Jan 2, 2010

Answer 3

English Teresa in Spanish is Teresa.

However, pronunciation of the two can be quite different. How did you pronounce your name?

Americans in the States usually pronounce this tah-reeee-saw

so if your saying tah-REE-sah of course they won't understand what your name is...they would hear something like tu risa or da risa

• T has to been firm and quick click of the tounque on your teeth
• Also, the R sounds in Spanish are hard taps of the toungue on the back of your teeth or upper roof of your mouth, mostly like the D sound....

I would suggest sayinng 'tedDAY-za'

• ted like teddy bear
• DAY, well like day
• za like pizza is sometimes called 'za' by yuppy couples (not too hard of a z sound, just a little buzz, since it's an semi-dental or avealor fricative between to vowels, first one the accented vowel, the second an open vowel)

Answer 4

Mother Teresa was Albanian and Teresa was not the name that she was born with. When she became a nun she probably adopted the name of a saint like Saint Teresa de Ávila. That name was Spanish, however.

I cannot imagine any Spanish speaker not being able to pronounce Teresa. What exactly did they ask you? Maybe they were asking what your surname was and when you provided your given name they became confused. How do you pronounce your name? Like it would be in Spanish? or Ter EE sa?