boy's name
Thierry
tee-eh-REE
- Origin French
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 7
- Popularity Rare
- Births on record 292,606
Ireland
#505
2002 births
Thierry is a boy's name meaning ruler of the people, the French form of the Germanic Theodoric — and it is the same name as Terry, which reached English by a different route. It peaked in 1964.
- Thierry is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in France in 1964, when 25,515 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 58,952 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1905.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Thierry over time
Births per decade in France, 1900s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 10 |
| 1910s | 25 |
| 1920s | 45 |
| 1930s | 205 |
| 1940s | 3,165 |
| 1950s | 46,595 |
| 1960s | 172,085 |
| 1970s | 53,375 |
| 1980s | 10,455 |
| 1990s | 2,450 |
| 2000s | 830 |
| 2010s | 230 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 65 |
What Thierry means
Thierry means ruler of the people. The Germanic joins a word for a people or tribe to one meaning ruler, so the name describes authority over a nation rather than over land.
Where Thierry comes from
Thierry is the French form of the Germanic Theudoreiks — theud, a people, joined to ric, ruler. Theodoric the Great ruled Italy as an Ostrogothic king from 493 and had Boethius executed, which is why The Consolation of Philosophy was written in a prison cell. The name reached English separately as Terry, so the two are the same name arriving by different routes — Thierry through French, Terry through the Norman form that became a surname. The Dutch Dirk and the German Dietrich come from the same source.
Thierry in use
Thierry peaked in France in 1964, when 25,515 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 1935th in England and Wales on 13 births, 2811th in France on 10 and 5106th in the United States, across 292,606 lifetime births in four of the seven markets we track. England and Wales now gives it a stronger position than France, which holds nearly all of its history.
How popular is Thierry?
In 2025, Thierry was given to 10 babies in France. It is a rare choice.
Where Thierry is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
How Thierry is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Thiérry | Thiérry is a rare spelling of Thierry, written with an acute accent and recorded about 20 times, mostly in France. | 20 |
Names that peaked alongside Thierry
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Thierry also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Thierry over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Thierry 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.
- Theodoric
Sibling names for Thierry
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Thierry — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Thierry
What does the name Thierry mean?
Ruler of the people — the Germanic theud, a people, joined to ric, ruler.
Is Thierry the same name as Terry?
Yes — both descend from Theodoric, Thierry through French and Terry through the Norman surname.
Are Dirk and Dietrich related?
Yes, both come from the same Germanic source.
How popular is Thierry?
2811th in France and 1935th in England and Wales.
Is Thierry a girl's or a boy's name?
Thierry is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Thierry?
Thierry has 2 syllables.
Is Thierry a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Thierry currently ranks #1,935 in France. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.