Terence
A masculine name of Latin origin meaning "tender" or "harvester".
Name Census estimates that about 28,516 living Americans carry the first name Terence. It is a predominantly male name (99.5% of registrations). The average person named Terence today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Terence births was 1964 (1,025 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Terence. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Terence with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Terence is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 170 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
29K
~ 1 in 12,020 Americans
Peak year
1964
1,025 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,933
Tracked since 1885
Census
Terence in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 26,747 people with the first name Terence, which placed it at #1,343 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
#1,343
National first-name rank
People counted
27K
26,747 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
8.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Terence
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Terence is White at 56.0%. The next largest groups are Black (32.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.3%). 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 Terence 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 Terence at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.0% · 14,971
- Black or African American32.8% · 8,760
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.3% · 1,411
- Two or more races3.3% · 885
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 553
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 167
Gender
Gender distribution for Terence
Out of the 34,413 babies given the name Terence since 1880, 99.5% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Terence as a male name
- Ranked #2,933 in 2024
- 43 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1964 (1,015 births)
Terence as a female name
- Ranked #10,748 in 1989
- 7 female births in 1989
- Peak: 1985 (12 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Terence appears almost entirely male. Of the 26,742 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Terence: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Terence from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 7,858 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Terence 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 Terence during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Terences live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. New York, California, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Terence, while Vermont, Idaho, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 647 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Terence
The given name Terence originated from the Roman family name Terentius, which was derived from the Latin word "terere" meaning "to rub". This name first came into use around the 3rd century BC in ancient Rome.
During the classical period, the name was borne by the renowned Roman playwright Publius Terentius Afer, also known as Terence, who lived from around 195-159 BC. His comedic plays, such as "The Eunuch" and "The Brothers", were highly influential in the development of Roman literature and theater.
The name Terence gained popularity throughout the Roman Empire and continued to be used during the Middle Ages. One notable figure was Saint Terence, a 3rd-century Christian martyr who was allegedly a Roman soldier executed for his faith under the reign of Emperor Decius.
In the 12th century, Terence was the name of a renowned philosopher and grammarian from the University of Paris, known as Terrentius the Grammarian or Terrentius of Arles. His works on Latin grammar and literature were widely studied in medieval Europe.
During the Renaissance, the name was borne by the Italian humanist and scholar Terence Basini (1483-1542), who was renowned for his expertise in classical literature and his translations of ancient Greek and Latin texts.
Another notable figure was the Irish playwright and satirist Terence O'Flaherty (1828-1908), better known by his pen name Bernard Shaw. His works, such as "Pygmalion" and "Man and Superman", were highly acclaimed and influential in the world of theater.
Terence V. Powderly (1849-1924) was an American labor leader and the head of the Knights of Labor, one of the most important labor organizations in the late 19th century, advocating for better working conditions and workers' rights.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Terence
People
Terence + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Terence 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
Terence: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Terence?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 28,516 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Terence 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 12,020 US residents.
Is Terence a common name?
We classify Terence as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 34,413 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Terence most popular?
The single biggest year for Terence was 1964, when 1,025 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Terence is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Terence in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 26,747 people with the name Terence, or 8.86 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,343 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 Terence 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 Terence?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Terence appears almost entirely male. Of the 26,742 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Terence?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Terence is White at 56.0%. The next largest groups are Black (32.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.3%). 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 Terence most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Terence in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.0% (14,971 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 Terence in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Terence a male name?
Yes, 99.5% of people registered as Terence 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.
Is Terence still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Terence 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 Terence 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 Americans are named Terence?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.