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Girl or boy · English, from Germanic and Latin
Terry
Say it: TAIR-ee
Meaning
For boys, from a Norman surname derived from Thierry (Germanic Theodoric 'ruler of the people') or a pet form of Terence; for girls, a pet form of Theresa.
Likelythe main view, with some doubt.
Popular for both sexes in the US from the 1940s to the 1960s.
Its wave through time
A fashion of the 1950s
In the United States
- 520,385 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1955, about 1 in 132 boys
- 245 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Terri, Teri, Terrie
Famous bearers
- Terry Bradshaw, American quarterback
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.