Terry

Primarily a boy's name · Unisex — 19% girls / 81% boys

Meaning

Terry is a unisex diminutive nickname for the given names Teresa or Theresa or Terence, Terrance.

From Wikipedia

Terry first appears in the data in 1880 and has been recorded in 144 different years as a boy's name. Its single biggest year was 1957 with 15,618 babies (rank #33 that year). In 2024 it was given to 174 boys (rank #1,186). The name has been declining over the last five years.

Numerology of Terry

In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Terry yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.

5Destiny numberThe free spiritCurious, restless, energised by change.Sum of every letter. The overall character a name carries.
3Soul urgeThe creativeExpressive, sociable, lifted by playful energy.Sum of the vowels — what's said to drive the heart.
2PersonalityThe peacemakerDiplomatic, sensitive, partnership-minded.Sum of the consonants — the outer impression.

521,274

Total babies (all years)

144

Years in the data

15,618

Peak in a single year

Popularity Over Time — Boys

Also a character in

In Brooklyn Nine-Nine: Terry Jeffords — sergeant, family man

Famous people named Terry

Terry Pratchettscience fiction writer · b. 1948
Terry Gilliammanufacturer · b. 1940
Terry CrewsAmerican football player · b. 1968
Terry Jonesactor · b. 1942
Terry Foxactivist · b. 1958

Share your Terry story

Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.

More popular boys' names

Names ranked near Terry in 2024

Other boys' names starting with T

Year-by-Year Detail

Rank is among all boys' names registered that year.

Year	Babies	Rank
1880	10	#632
1882	7	#828
1883	10	#639
1884	10	#653
1885	9	#691
1886	12	#571
1887	16	#437
1888	15	#524
1889	9	#717
1890	12	#598
1891	5	#1,110
1892	12	#635
1893	8	#826
1894	12	#623
1895	13	#605
1896	20	#458
1897	15	#549
1898	14	#605
1899	7	#923
1900	21	#532
1901	13	#590
1902	18	#519
1903	18	#522
1904	18	#535
1905	15	#634
1906	13	#703
1907	20	#556
1908	23	#539
1909	27	#501
1910	30	#521
1911	29	#574
1912	49	#581
1913	69	#519
1914	58	#672
1915	105	#549
1916	85	#634
1917	92	#619
1918	100	#617
1919	94	#627
1920	142	#514
1921	125	#567
1922	130	#556
1923	134	#527
1924	140	#534
1925	190	#436
1926	165	#470
1927	180	#458
1928	218	#408
1929	222	#392
1930	296	#321
1931	290	#322
1932	430	#264
1933	572	#206
1934	720	#182
1935	962	#154
1936	1,291	#126
1937	1,684	#113
1938	2,336	#86
1939	2,443	#83
1940	2,982	#73
1941	3,606	#64
1942	4,810	#52
1943	5,737	#49
1944	5,976	#43
1945	6,833	#33
1946	10,678	#26
1947	12,751	#26
1948	12,136	#26
1949	11,457	#28
1950	11,433	#30
1951	12,216	#30
1952	12,438	#29
1953	13,259	#30
1954	15,554	#27
1955	15,586	#28
1956	15,066	#31
1957	15,618	#33
1958	15,008	#33
1959	14,546	#33
1960	13,930	#34
1961	13,190	#32
1962	12,304	#34
1963	12,459	#32
1964	10,868	#35
1965	9,090	#40
1966	8,454	#40
1967	7,684	#42
1968	7,090	#48
1969	6,415	#52
1970	6,187	#54
1971	5,858	#56
1972	4,770	#62
1973	4,375	#65
1974	4,026	#69
1975	3,971	#68
1976	3,668	#75
1977	3,443	#83
1978	3,089	#91
1979	3,040	#96
1980	2,981	#101
1981	2,814	#105
1982	2,761	#105
1983	2,471	#110
1984	2,335	#118
1985	2,374	#119
1986	2,251	#122
1987	2,102	#133
1988	2,065	#141
1989	2,003	#151
1990	1,895	#164
1991	1,741	#180
1992	1,595	#196
1993	1,426	#213
1994	1,218	#242
1995	1,176	#245
1996	1,094	#258
1997	1,046	#269
1998	947	#302
1999	905	#315
2000	847	#331
2001	803	#343
2002	687	#380
2003	667	#392
2004	657	#400
2005	693	#406
2006	614	#445
2007	608	#455
2008	580	#480
2009	482	#549
2010	521	#497
2011	478	#532
2012	482	#542
2013	428	#593
2014	423	#625
2015	388	#664
2016	388	#666
2017	358	#691
2018	314	#755
2019	267	#843
2020	238	#933
2021	214	#1,028
2022	231	#978
2023	204	#1,065
2024	174	#1,186