girl's name
Tracey
TRAY-see
- Origin French
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 6
- Popularity Rare
- Births on record 101,170
Northern Ireland
#428
1998 births
Tracey is a Norman place name, not an Irish one — it comes from Tracy in Normandy, and the warrior reading widely given for it has no basis in the French original at all.
- Tracey is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in 1970, when 6,599 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 174,520 babies in the United States is given this name.
- Tracey started out as a boys' name and is now given almost entirely to girls.
- First appears in US birth records in 1915.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Tracey over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1910s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1910s | 19 |
| 1920s | 43 |
| 1930s | 48 |
| 1940s | 366 |
| 1950s | 5,676 |
| 1960s | 43,896 |
| 1970s | 31,408 |
| 1980s | 9,011 |
| 1990s | 3,286 |
| 2000s | 931 |
| 2010s | 394 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 125 |
What Tracey means
Tracey means from Tracy, a place in Normandy. It is a locational byname, so it records where a family came from rather than describing any quality of the bearer.
Where Tracey comes from
Tracey descends from the Norman place Tracy, itself probably from a Gallo-Roman personal name Thracius with a locative ending — a man from Thrace, in other words, several removes back. The warrior gloss comes from confusion with the Irish treas, battle, and does not connect. William de Tracy was one of the four knights who killed Thomas Becket in 1170. The name turned female in twentieth-century America and Britain, having been male for eight hundred years before that.
Tracey in use
Tracey peaked in the United States in 1970, when 6,599 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in two of the seven markets we track — 5822nd in England and Wales on 4 births and 8308th in the United States on 19 — across 101,170 lifetime births. About 91 percent of recorded births are female, reversing eight centuries of masculine use.
How popular is Tracey?
In 2025, Tracey was given to 19 babies in the United States. It is a rare choice.
Where Tracey 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 Tracey
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Tracey also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Tracey over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Tracey 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 Tracey
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Tracey — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Tracey
What does the name Tracey mean?
From Tracy, a place in Normandy — a locational byname.
Does Tracey mean warrior?
No. That comes from confusion with the Irish treas, battle, and does not connect to the Norman name.
Was Tracey a boys' name?
For roughly eight centuries. It turned female in the twentieth century.
How popular is Tracey?
8308th in the United States, down from a 1970 peak of 6,599 births.
How many syllables are in Tracey?
Tracey has 2 syllables.
Is Tracey a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Tracey currently ranks #5,822 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.