US Name Trends

Terry

Two sources: the Roman Terentius, and the Norman Thierry from Germanic Theodoric.

1957peak year
No. 26best rank (1946)
521,478babies since 1880
outside top 1000 in 2025

Popularity, 1880–2025

Babies named Terry per year — peak 15,624▬ girls ▬ boys18801900192019401960198020002020

Terry appears in the national records from the very first year, 1880. It has ranked among the top 100 names for American boys in every year from 1938 to 1979. Its biggest year was 1957, when 15,624 newborn boys received the name, ranking it No. 33 nationally. Its best ranking came in 1946, at No. 26. The name has also seen real use for girls: 96,955 of the 521,478 Americans given the name since 1880.

Related names

Other spellings on record: Terri (147,027), Teri (44,171), Terrie (20,068) (total births since 1880)

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By the decade

DecadeBirthsBest rank
1880s98No. 420
1890s118No. 438
1900s186No. 496
1910s711No. 512
1920s1,646No. 390
1930s11,025No. 83
1940s76,965No. 26
1950s140,724No. 27
1960s101,489No. 32
1970s42,426No. 54
1980s24,157No. 101
1990s13,040No. 164
2000s6,638No. 331
2010s4,047No. 497
2020s1,253No. 932

Births and rank shown for boys, the sex more often given the name. The Social Security Administration omits name–year combinations with fewer than five births.

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Data: U.S. Social Security Administration national baby-name file, 1880–2025.