girl's name
Teri
TERR-ee
- Origin English
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 4
- Popularity Rare
- Births on record 45,129
Northern Ireland
#495
2007 births
Teri descends from a name with no agreed meaning — Theresa has been traced to a Greek island, to a word for summer and to one for hunting, and none of the three has carried the field.
- Teri is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1960, when 2,339 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 473,709 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1920.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Teri over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1920s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1920s | 17 |
| 1930s | 62 |
| 1940s | 1,624 |
| 1950s | 11,899 |
| 1960s | 16,822 |
| 1970s | 7,893 |
| 1980s | 3,983 |
| 1990s | 1,283 |
| 2000s | 426 |
| 2010s | 123 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 39 |
What Teri means
Teri has no settled meaning. It shortens Theresa, whose Greek original is disputed between an island name, a word for summer and one for hunting.
Where Teri comes from
Teri shortens Theresa, whose origin is genuinely unresolved. Proposals include Therasia, an island near Santorini; theros, summer or harvest; and therizein, to reap. The name is barely attested before Teresa of Ávila in the sixteenth century, which is unusual and suggests it may be Iberian rather than Greek at all. Her Carmelite reforms and her writing carried it across Catholic Europe.
Teri in use
Teri peaked in the United States in 1960, when 2,339 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in exactly one of the six markets we track, at 12606th in the United States on 7 births, across 45,129 lifetime births. England and Wales ran its own peak of 68 births in 1997 and Scotland 21 in 1987, both since dropped out of the rankings.
How popular is Teri?
In 2025, Teri was given to 7 babies in the United States. It is a rare choice.
Where Teri 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.
Names that peaked alongside Teri
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Teri also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Teri over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Teri 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.
- Dutch
- Theresa
Sibling names for Teri
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Teri — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Teri
What does the name Teri mean?
Nothing settled. Theresa's own origin is disputed.
What are the theories?
An island near Santorini, a word for summer, or one for reaping.
Why is the origin so unclear?
The name is barely attested before Teresa of Ávila, which suggests it may be Iberian rather than Greek.
How popular is Teri?
12606th in the United States, down from a 1960 peak of 2,339 births.
Is Teri a girl's or a boy's name?
Teri is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Teri?
Teri has 2 syllables.
Is Teri a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Teri currently ranks #12,606 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.