Tere
Variant of the Spanish name Teresa, ultimately derived from Greek meaning "harvester".
Name Census estimates that about 323 living Americans carry the first name Tere. It is a predominantly female name (98.5% of registrations). The average person named Tere today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tere births was 1959 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tere. 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
323
~ 1 in 1,061,159 Americans
Peak year
1959
24 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
1992 SSA rank
#8,345
Tracked since 1946
Census
Tere in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 958 people with the first name Tere, which placed it at #12,822 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#12,822
National first-name rank
People counted
958
958 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
57.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tere
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tere is Hispanic at 57.0%. The next largest groups are White (30.1%) and Black (8.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Tere described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Tere at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino57.0% · 546
- White30.1% · 288
- Black or African American8.2% · 79
- Two or more races2.5% · 24
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Tere
Tere leans heavily female at 98.5% of total registrations, but 6 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Tere as a male name
- Ranked #8,345 in 1992
- 6 male births in 1992
- Peak: 1992 (6 births)
Tere as a female name
- Ranked #19,353 in 2011
- 5 female births in 2011
- Peak: 1959 (24 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tere leans strongly female. 891 people counted with this name were female (93.3%), compared with 64 male bearers (6.7%).
Popularity
Tere: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tere from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 126 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tere 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 Tere during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Teres live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tere
The name Tere is believed to have originated from the Estonian language, a Finno-Ugric language spoken in Estonia and some neighboring regions. It is thought to be derived from the Estonian word "tere," which means "hello" or "greetings." The name has been in use in Estonia for centuries, with records dating back to the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest known mentions of the name Tere can be found in the Liber Census Daniae, a medieval census document from the 13th century, which lists several individuals with the name. It is likely that the name was initially used as a nickname or a shortened form of a longer Estonian name, possibly related to the idea of greeting or welcoming.
In Estonian folklore and mythology, there are references to a goddess or spirit known as Tere, who was associated with hospitality and welcoming guests. This connection may have contributed to the popularity of the name among Estonian families.
Notable historical figures with the name Tere include:
1. Tere Kull (1898-1983), an Estonian writer and journalist known for her works on Estonian culture and folklore.
2. Tere Mähar (1888-1978), an Estonian composer and conductor who contributed significantly to the development of Estonian choral music.
3. Tere Lõbu (1942-2018), an Estonian actress and theater director who worked extensively in both Estonian and Russian theaters.
4. Tere Parvel (born 1953), an Estonian painter and graphic artist whose works have been exhibited internationally.
5. Tere Kiisk (born 1964), an Estonian politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia from 2005 to 2007.
While the name Tere is predominantly used in Estonia, it has also gained some popularity in other parts of the world, particularly among Estonian diaspora communities. However, its origins and deep cultural connections remain rooted in the Estonian language and traditions.
People
Tere + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tere 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
Tere: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tere?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 323 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tere 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 1,061,159 US residents.
Is Tere a common name?
We classify Tere as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 391 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tere most popular?
The single biggest year for Tere was 1959, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tere is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tere in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 958 people with the name Tere, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,822 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Tere in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Tere?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tere leans strongly female. 891 people counted with this name were female (93.3%), compared with 64 male bearers (6.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Tere?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tere is Hispanic at 57.0%. The next largest groups are White (30.1%) and Black (8.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Tere most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Tere in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.0% (546 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Tere in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tere a female name?
Yes, 98.5% of people registered as Tere in the SSA data are female. 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.
Is Tere still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tere in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Tere can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people are called Tere?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.