unisex name
Tracy
TRAY-see
- Origin Norman
- Gender Unisex
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 325,104
Ireland
#782
2010 births
Tracy is a Norman place name that became a surname, then a boys' name, then overwhelmingly a girls' name — about 81 percent of the births in our records are female. It peaked in 1970.
- Tracy is a name of Norman origin.
- Peaked in 1970, when 20,240 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 29,082 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Tracy 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 | 142 |
| 1890s | 217 |
| 1900s | 178 |
| 1910s | 647 |
| 1920s | 828 |
| 1930s | 1,010 |
| 1940s | 2,541 |
| 1950s | 18,137 |
| 1960s | 132,957 |
| 1970s | 108,955 |
| 1980s | 32,028 |
| 1990s | 9,402 |
| 2000s | 3,545 |
| 2010s | 1,615 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 692 |
What Tracy means
Tracy comes from a Norman place name, probably built on a Gallo-Roman personal name whose own meaning is not recovered. The readings warlike and of Thrace often given for it are not supported.
Where Tracy comes from
Tracy is from one of several places in Normandy called Tracy, probably built on the Gallo-Roman personal name Thracius with a locative ending — so the place is named for a man whose own name is unrecovered, and the name we use is two removes from any meaning. The readings warlike and from Thrace that circulate are guesses at that buried source. It came to England as a surname with the Conquest, became a boys' given name in the nineteenth century, and switched to girls in the mid twentieth, following the same path as Kelly, Leslie, Shannon and Marion.
Tracy in use
Tracy peaked in the United States in 1970, when 20,240 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 2155th in the United States on 114 births, 2810th in France and 6598th in England and Wales, across 325,104 lifetime births in four of the seven markets we track. About 81 percent of recorded births are female, which places it with Marion at the far end of the group of surnames that crossed sexes in twentieth-century America.
How popular is Tracy?
In 2025, Tracy was given to 114 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Tracy 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 Tracy
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Tracy also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Tracy over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Tracy 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 Tracy
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Tracy — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Tracy
What does the name Tracy mean?
It comes from a Norman place name whose own root is unrecovered. Warlike and of Thrace are guesses, not derivations.
Was Tracy a boys' name?
Yes, in the nineteenth century. About 81 percent of the births in our records are now female.
Is it Tracy or Tracey?
Both are used; Tracy is the more common spelling in our data and Tracey the more British one.
How popular is Tracy?
2155th in the United States, down from a 1970 peak of 20,240 births.
How many syllables are in Tracy?
Tracy has 2 syllables.
Is Tracy a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Tracy currently ranks #2,155 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.