Terrence
Terrence was given to 107 boys in 2025, #1,600 among boys’ names; 72,939 Americans have been recorded with it since 1886 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 57,700 Americans named Terrence and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (79% of everyone recorded); the median is 49 years old and half are between 35 and 64.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Terrence by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Terrence mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Terrence is “a male given name from Latin, variant of Terence.”
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Terrence?
#1,600 among boys’ names, 2025
Terrence fell from #814 in 2015 to #1,600 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 0.15 to 0.06 per 1,000.
1,508 babies in 1955, the peak
Terrence peaked in 1955, when 1,508 babies were given it (1,497 boys, #181 among boys’ names). The 107 births of 2025 are 7% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 107 | #1,600 | 0.06 |
| 2024 | 116 | #1,527 | 0.07 |
| 2023 | 134 | #1,389 | 0.08 |
| 2022 | 151 | #1,281 | 0.09 |
| 2021 | 148 | #1,287 | 0.08 |
| 2020 | 173 | #1,133 | 0.10 |
| 2019 | 184 | #1,090 | 0.10 |
| 2018 | 217 | #957 | 0.12 |
| 2017 | 263 | #842 | 0.14 |
| 2016 | 272 | #834 | 0.14 |
Every recorded year (132)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 279 | #814 | 0.15 |
| 2014 | 329 | #729 | 0.17 |
| 2013 | 329 | #716 | 0.17 |
| 2012 | 340 | #700 | 0.18 |
| 2011 | 364 | #646 | 0.19 |
| 2010 | 426 | #588 | 0.22 |
| 2009 | 456 | #579 | 0.23 |
| 2008 | 420 | #598 | 0.21 |
| 2007 | 449 | #572 | 0.22 |
| 2006 | 467 | #543 | 0.23 |
| 2005 | 403 | #578 | 0.20 |
| 2004 | 354 | #606 | 0.18 |
| 2003 | 440 | #530 | 0.22 |
| 2002 | 397 | #561 | 0.20 |
| 2001 | 431 | #520 | 0.22 |
| 2000 | 480 | #488 | 0.24 |
| 1999 | 497 | #461 | 0.26 |
| 1998 | 491 | #459 | 0.26 |
| 1997 | 581 | #402 | 0.31 |
| 1996 | 623 | #376 | 0.33 |
| 1995 | 652 | #367 | 0.34 |
| 1994 | 802 | #321 | 0.42 |
| 1993 | 915 | #298 | 0.47 |
| 1992 | 1,055 | #271 | 0.53 |
| 1991 | 1,053 | #258 | 0.52 |
| 1990 | 1,055 | #255 | 0.51 |
| 1989 | 1,162 | #233 | 0.58 |
| 1988 | 1,241 | #210 | 0.65 |
| 1987 | 1,044 | #226 | 0.56 |
| 1986 | 939 | #242 | 0.51 |
| 1985 | 942 | #244 | 0.51 |
| 1984 | 993 | #226 | 0.55 |
| 1983 | 1,008 | #223 | 0.56 |
| 1982 | 1,074 | #222 | 0.59 |
| 1981 | 1,077 | #224 | 0.60 |
| 1980 | 1,185 | #209 | 0.66 |
| 1979 | 1,192 | #202 | 0.69 |
| 1978 | 1,116 | #201 | 0.68 |
| 1977 | 1,152 | #198 | 0.70 |
| 1976 | 1,164 | #191 | 0.74 |
| 1975 | 1,149 | #196 | 0.74 |
| 1974 | 1,106 | #199 | 0.70 |
| 1973 | 1,166 | #194 | 0.75 |
| 1972 | 1,161 | #201 | 0.72 |
| 1971 | 1,239 | #198 | 0.70 |
| 1970 | 1,460 | #187 | 0.79 |
| 1969 | 1,218 | #205 | 0.68 |
| 1968 | 1,132 | #205 | 0.65 |
| 1967 | 1,065 | #211 | 0.61 |
| 1966 | 1,090 | #211 | 0.61 |
| 1965 | 1,029 | #226 | 0.55 |
| 1964 | 1,271 | #214 | 0.64 |
| 1963 | 1,013 | #239 | 0.50 |
| 1962 | 987 | #248 | 0.48 |
| 1961 | 999 | #249 | 0.47 |
| 1960 | 1,014 | #251 | 0.48 |
| 1959 | 1,104 | #242 | 0.52 |
| 1958 | 1,218 | #216 | 0.57 |
| 1957 | 1,304 | #206 | 0.60 |
| 1956 | 1,451 | #194 | 0.69 |
| 1955 | 1,497 | #181 | 0.73 |
| 1954 | 1,440 | #184 | 0.71 |
| 1953 | 1,217 | #200 | 0.62 |
| 1952 | 1,164 | #195 | 0.60 |
| 1951 | 1,171 | #193 | 0.62 |
| 1950 | 1,267 | #176 | 0.71 |
| 1949 | 1,177 | #181 | 0.66 |
| 1948 | 1,204 | #177 | 0.69 |
| 1947 | 1,100 | #188 | 0.60 |
| 1946 | 939 | #190 | 0.58 |
| 1945 | 598 | #226 | 0.44 |
| 1944 | 615 | #223 | 0.45 |
| 1943 | 627 | #229 | 0.44 |
| 1942 | 555 | #242 | 0.40 |
| 1941 | 444 | #271 | 0.36 |
| 1940 | 397 | #280 | 0.34 |
| 1939 | 354 | #294 | 0.32 |
| 1938 | 310 | #312 | 0.28 |
| 1937 | 246 | #347 | 0.23 |
| 1936 | 216 | #372 | 0.21 |
| 1935 | 171 | #428 | 0.16 |
| 1934 | 130 | #512 | 0.13 |
| 1933 | 112 | #539 | 0.11 |
| 1932 | 95 | #614 | 0.09 |
| 1931 | 72 | #726 | 0.07 |
| 1930 | 67 | #794 | 0.06 |
| 1929 | 72 | #751 | 0.07 |
| 1928 | 63 | #833 | 0.06 |
| 1927 | 63 | #857 | 0.06 |
| 1926 | 54 | #927 | 0.05 |
| 1925 | 68 | #808 | 0.06 |
| 1924 | 35 | #1,245 | 0.03 |
| 1923 | 61 | #880 | 0.06 |
| 1922 | 53 | #971 | 0.05 |
| 1921 | 60 | #908 | 0.05 |
| 1920 | 55 | #938 | 0.05 |
| 1919 | 30 | #1,316 | 0.03 |
| 1918 | 40 | #1,092 | 0.04 |
| 1917 | 25 | #1,432 | 0.03 |
| 1916 | 18 | #1,760 | 0.02 |
| 1915 | 26 | #1,337 | 0.03 |
| 1914 | 19 | #1,437 | 0.03 |
| 1913 | 18 | #1,246 | 0.04 |
| 1912 | 17 | #1,167 | 0.04 |
| 1911 | 11 | #1,111 | 0.05 |
| 1910 | 9 | #1,185 | 0.05 |
| 1909 | 5 | #1,657 | 0.03 |
| 1908 | 6 | #1,357 | 0.04 |
| 1907 | 7 | #1,189 | 0.05 |
| 1901 | 5 | #1,198 | 0.05 |
| 1900 | 5 | #1,483 | 0.03 |
| 1898 | 7 | #989 | 0.06 |
| 1897 | 11 | #675 | 0.10 |
| 1896 | 8 | #888 | 0.07 |
| 1895 | 6 | #1,069 | 0.05 |
| 1894 | 5 | #1,218 | 0.04 |
| 1893 | 7 | #897 | 0.06 |
| 1892 | 6 | #1,055 | 0.05 |
| 1890 | 9 | #733 | 0.08 |
| 1889 | 5 | #1,100 | 0.05 |
| 1888 | 10 | #696 | 0.08 |
| 1886 | 10 | #644 | 0.09 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Terrence a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Terrence has been given almost only to boys: 527 girls in 132 years of records.
Girls and boys named Terrence: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Terrence, and how old are they?
57,700 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 79% of the 72,939 Americans ever recorded as Terrence. The median Terrence alive today is 49 years old; half are between 35 and 64.
The 2020 Census counted 51,590 people named Terrence (207 women and girls, 51,383 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 60,660 born in the U.S. The Census count is 15% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 1,490 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 15,000 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 16,600 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 15,000 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 6,880 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 2,680 |
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).
Where are babies named Terrence born?
The states with the most babies named Terrence are Illinois, New York and Ohio, with 28% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | 7,133 | #1,263 | 1.9× |
| New York | 6,945 | #1,111 | 1.2× |
| Ohio | 4,889 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| California | 4,249 | #1,673 | 0.6× |
| Michigan | 3,905 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Pennsylvania | 3,885 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Florida | 3,055 | #1,185 | 1.3× |
| Texas | 2,763 | #1,640 | 0.5× |
| New Jersey | 2,241 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Georgia | 2,131 | #1,524 | 1.1× |
Where Terrence is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Terrence is most over-represented in Illinois: since 1910 it was given 1.9 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Terrence with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 5 names spelled alike, given to 181,214 babies since 1880, Terrence is the most given (40% of them). In 2025 it was given to 107 of their 263 babies (41%), the second most given that year.
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 Terrence
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 Terrence and names like it
- Compare Terrence and TerranceBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sTerrence peaked in 1955.
- Illinois’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Terrence since 1910.
- The top names of 1955The year the most babies were named Terrence.
- The names of Generation XMost people named Terrence alive today were born 1965-1980.
- Names starting with TMost given first.