unisex name
Terry
TER-ee
- Origin English
- Gender Unisex
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 528,433
Northern Ireland
#452
2022 births
Terry is a name serving as a short form of Terence and of the Germanic Theodoric, two unrelated names, and it is genuinely mixed — about 18 percent of the births in our records are female.
- Terry is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1955, when 20,939 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 16,413 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Terry 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 | 98 |
| 1890s | 125 |
| 1900s | 239 |
| 1910s | 1,039 |
| 1920s | 2,819 |
| 1930s | 12,951 |
| 1940s | 90,663 |
| 1950s | 183,918 |
| 1960s | 129,127 |
| 1970s | 48,204 |
| 1980s | 26,108 |
| 1990s | 13,792 |
| 2000s | 6,918 |
| 2010s | 4,180 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 1,297 |
What Terry means
Terry has no single meaning. Through Terence it carries the sense of a Roman family name of unknown origin; through Theodoric it means ruler of the people.
Where Terry comes from
Terry shortens two names that have nothing to do with each other. Terence is the Roman Terentius, a family name whose meaning is not known, borne by the playwright Terence, a freed North African slave whose comedies were read as models of Latin style for centuries. Theodoric is the Germanic Theudoreiks — theud, people, joined to ric, ruler — which reached England through the Norman Thierry and gave the surname Terry directly. So the name arrives from a Roman gens and a Gothic king, and English speakers cannot tell them apart. It is also an Irish anglicization of Toirdhealbhach in some families.
Terry in use
Terry peaked in the United States in 1955, when 20,939 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 533rd in Ireland on 6 births, 1116th in the United States on 202, 1735th in England and Wales and 5570th in France, across 528,433 lifetime births. About 18 percent of recorded births are female, which puts it among the more genuinely mixed names in this cohort rather than nominally unisex.
How popular is Terry?
In 2025, Terry was given to 202 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Terry 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 Terry
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Terry also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Terry over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Terry 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.
Sibling names for Terry
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Terry — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Terry
What does the name Terry mean?
It depends which name it shortens — Terence, whose meaning is unknown, or Theodoric, ruler of the people.
Is Terry a girls' name?
For about 18 percent of the births in our records, yes — it is genuinely mixed rather than nominally unisex.
Is Terry short for Terence?
It can be, and equally for Theodoric or the French Thierry. It is also widely used as a full name.
How popular is Terry?
1116th in the United States, down from a 1955 peak of 20,939 births.
How many syllables are in Terry?
Terry has 2 syllables.
Is Terry a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Terry currently ranks #533 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.