boy's name
Terence
TERR-uns
- Origin Latin
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 7
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 42,189
Northern Ireland
#498
2020 births
Terence has no known meaning, and its most famous bearer was a slave — the playwright Terence was North African, brought to Rome, freed, and became one of the two Latin comic dramatists whose work survives.
- Terence is a name of Latin origin.
- Peaked in 1964, when 1,024 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 70,542 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1885.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Terence over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 23 |
| 1900s | 14 |
| 1910s | 169 |
| 1920s | 413 |
| 1930s | 866 |
| 1940s | 2,811 |
| 1950s | 6,351 |
| 1960s | 7,858 |
| 1970s | 4,805 |
| 1980s | 5,118 |
| 1990s | 3,180 |
| 2000s | 1,491 |
| 2010s | 1,058 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 303 |
What Terence means
Terence has no established meaning. The Roman gens name behind it resists derivation, and the smooth or soft reading offered for it has no support.
Where Terence comes from
Terence is the Roman Terentius, a gens name of unknown and probably Etruscan origin. Publius Terentius Afer — the Afer marking him as North African — was brought to Rome as a slave, educated and freed by a senator whose family name he took, and wrote six comedies that all survive. His line that nothing human is alien to me became one of the most quoted in Latin. The Irish Toirdhealbhach was later anglicized to Terence, which is an unrelated name.
Terence in use
Terence peaked in the United States in 1964, when 1,024 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 671st in Ireland on 5 births, 1305th in England and Wales on 22, 2294th in France on 20 and 2763rd in the United States on 47, across 42,189 lifetime births in five of the seven markets we track. Ireland ran its own peak of 112 births in 1967.
How popular is Terence?
In 2025, Terence was given to 47 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Terence is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Terence is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Térence | Térence is a rare spelling of Terence, written with an acute accent and recorded about 530 times, mostly in France. | 530 |
Names that peaked alongside Terence
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Terence also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Terence over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Terence
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Terence in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Terrance
Sibling names for Terence
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Terence — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Terence
What does the name Terence mean?
Nothing established. The Roman Terentius is probably Etruscan and unexplained.
Who was Terence the playwright?
A North African brought to Rome as a slave, freed, and author of six surviving comedies.
Is the Irish Terence the same?
No. Toirdhealbhach was anglicized to Terence and is unrelated.
How popular is Terence?
671st in Ireland, its strongest market, and 2763rd in the United States.
Is Terence a girl's or a boy's name?
Terence is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Terence?
Terence has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Terence?
Terence is usually shortened to Terry.
Is Terence a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Terence currently ranks #671 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.