Terah
Terah was last recorded in 2018, when 5 babies were given it; 1,416 Americans have been recorded with it between 1955 and 2018 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,360 Americans named Terah and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (96% of everyone recorded); the median is 41 years old and half are between 31 and 47.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Terah by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Terah mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Terah is “a male given name from Hebrew.” Its etymology gives the sense “Terah” (תֶּרַח).
From Hebrew תֶּרַח (téraḥ, “Terah”).
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Terah?
Unranked in 2025
Its last girls’ rank on record is #17,892, in 2018; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
65 babies in 1985, the peak
Terah peaked in 1985, when 65 girls were given it, #1,754 among girls’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 5 | #17,892 | 2.9 |
| 2017 | 5 | #18,200 | 2.9 |
| 2016 | 6 | #16,057 | 3.4 |
| 2015 | 11 | #10,088 | 6.2 |
| 2014 | 14 | #8,445 | 7.8 |
| 2013 | 7 | #14,462 | 4.0 |
| 2012 | 11 | #10,364 | 6.2 |
| 2011 | 7 | #14,708 | 4.0 |
| 2010 | 12 | #9,733 | 6.8 |
| 2009 | 16 | #8,020 | 8.7 |
Every recorded year (58)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 12 | #10,020 | 6.3 |
| 2007 | 13 | #9,495 | 6.8 |
| 2006 | 16 | #7,834 | 8.4 |
| 2005 | 17 | #7,109 | 9.2 |
| 2004 | 20 | #6,191 | 10.9 |
| 2003 | 13 | #8,447 | 7.1 |
| 2002 | 20 | #5,880 | 11.1 |
| 2001 | 20 | #5,793 | 11.1 |
| 2000 | 20 | #5,680 | 11.0 |
| 1999 | 19 | #5,636 | 10.7 |
| 1998 | 23 | #4,784 | 13.0 |
| 1997 | 21 | #4,989 | 12.1 |
| 1996 | 29 | #3,817 | 16.5 |
| 1995 | 19 | #5,199 | 10.8 |
| 1994 | 24 | #4,364 | 13.4 |
| 1993 | 34 | #3,343 | 18.8 |
| 1992 | 23 | #4,515 | 12.5 |
| 1991 | 30 | #3,623 | 16.0 |
| 1990 | 55 | #2,310 | 29.0 |
| 1989 | 34 | #3,152 | 18.4 |
| 1988 | 42 | #2,587 | 23.6 |
| 1987 | 29 | #3,249 | 16.7 |
| 1986 | 40 | #2,508 | 23.3 |
| 1985 | 65 | #1,754 | 37.8 |
| 1984 | 53 | #1,958 | 31.5 |
| 1983 | 64 | #1,711 | 38.3 |
| 1982 | 53 | #1,989 | 31.3 |
| 1981 | 58 | #1,884 | 34.8 |
| 1980 | 48 | #2,151 | 28.9 |
| 1979 | 45 | #2,215 | 28.0 |
| 1978 | 43 | #2,185 | 28.1 |
| 1977 | 53 | #1,899 | 34.6 |
| 1976 | 34 | #2,432 | 23.2 |
| 1975 | 33 | #2,450 | 22.6 |
| 1974 | 33 | #2,388 | 22.5 |
| 1973 | 25 | #2,823 | 17.1 |
| 1972 | 22 | #3,051 | 14.5 |
| 1971 | 17 | #3,779 | 10.2 |
| 1970 | 6 | #7,911 | 3.4 |
| 1969 | 7 | #6,549 | 4.1 |
| 1967 | 7 | #5,992 | 4.2 |
| 1966 | 5 | #7,520 | 3.0 |
| 1965 | 6 | #6,461 | 3.4 |
| 1964 | 6 | #6,702 | 3.2 |
| 1961 | 5 | #7,436 | 2.5 |
| 1960 | 5 | #7,210 | 2.5 |
| 1959 | 6 | #6,164 | 3.0 |
| 1955 | 7 | #5,152 | 3.6 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Terah a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 1,416 Americans recorded as Terah, 97% are girls and 3% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Terah: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Terah, and how old are they?
1,360 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 96% of the 1,416 Americans ever recorded as Terah. The median Terah alive today is 41 years old; half are between 31 and 47.
The 2020 Census counted 1,341 people named Terah (1,235 women and girls, 106 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,377 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 24 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 385 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 648 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 257 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 48 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 220,837 babies since 1880, Terah is the fifth most given (<1% of them). In 2025 none of their 100 babies recorded by SSA was a Terah (SSA lists a name only with 5 or more babies of one sex).
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Terah
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Terah and names like it
- Compare Terah and TerriBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1980sTerah peaked in 1985.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Terah since 1910.
- Hebrew namesWiktionary’s origin for Terah: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1985The year the most babies were named Terah.
- The names of the MillennialsMost people named Terah alive today were born 1981-1996.
- Names starting with TMost given first.