Tarrance
An English name derived from the French place name Tarrant.
Name Census estimates that about 851 living Americans carry the first name Tarrance. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Tarrance today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tarrance births was 1980 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tarrance. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
851
~ 1 in 402,767 Americans
Peak year
1980
35 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2019 SSA rank
#13,906
Tracked since 1960
Popularity
Tarrance: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tarrance from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 238 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tarrance by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Tarrance during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tarrances live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Texas, Alabama, Illinois recorded the most babies named Tarrance, while Georgia, Florida, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tarrance
The name Tarrance originates from the medieval English name Terrence or Terence, which in turn derives from the Latin name Terentius. Terentius was a Roman family name derived from the Roman praenomen Terens, meaning "to rub." This name was likely given to someone who worked as a scourer or polisher.
The name Tarrance emerged as an English variant of Terence during the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century. It was particularly common in areas of Britain that had a strong Norman influence, such as parts of England and Scotland.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tarrance can be found in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, a census-like record of landowners in England and Wales. The name appears as "Tarrance de Estre" in this document.
Historically, the name Tarrance was not widely used, but there are a few notable figures who bore this name. One example is Tarrance Nevison (1640-1715), an English Catholic priest and controversialist who was involved in religious debates during the Reformation.
Another figure was Tarrance Edmundson (1759-1819), an Irish-American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia in the early 19th century.
In the 20th century, Tarrance Kinghorne (1886-1944) was a British author and journalist who wrote several books on travel and adventure.
Tarrance Higgins (1926-2016) was an American jazz drummer who played with notable musicians such as Charles Mingus and Art Blakey.
More recently, Tarrance Frierson (born 1977) is an American film director and screenwriter known for his work on independent films such as "Creamerie" and "Mercy Road."
While the name Tarrance has never been extremely common, it has a rich history dating back to medieval England and has been borne by individuals from various fields throughout the centuries.
People
Tarrance + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tarrance as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Tarrance: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tarrance?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 851 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tarrance going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 402,767 US residents.
Is Tarrance a common name?
We classify Tarrance as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 898 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tarrance most popular?
The single biggest year for Tarrance was 1980, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tarrance is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Tarrance a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tarrance in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.