Terie
Short for the French name Therèse, a feminine name meaning "harvester".
Name Census estimates that about 280 living Americans carry the first name Terie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Terie today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Terie births was 1962 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Terie. 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
280
~ 1 in 1,224,123 Americans
Peak year
1962
27 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
1989 SSA rank
#10,749
Tracked since 1947
Census
Terie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 400 people with the first name Terie, which placed it at #24,171 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
#24,171
National first-name rank
People counted
400
400 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Terie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Terie is White at 80.5%. The next largest groups are Black (9.0%) and Hispanic (4.5%). 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 Terie 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 Terie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.5% · 322
- Black or African American9.0% · 36
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 18
- Two or more races3.0% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 4
Popularity
Terie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Terie from the 1940s through to the 1980s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 146 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
Terie 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 Terie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Teries live
Origin
Meaning and history of Terie
The name Terie is believed to have originated from the Old English word "terre," which means "earth" or "land." This name likely emerged during the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, which lasted from the 5th to the 11th centuries.
In its earliest forms, the name was spelled as "Terre" or "Terri," and it was initially used as a surname or a place name before becoming a given name. The name Terie was derived from these earlier spellings, reflecting the transition of certain surnames into first names over time.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Terie can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landowners and properties in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. In this historical document, there are references to individuals with the surname "Terre" or "Terri," suggesting that the name was already in use during the Norman period.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Terie remained relatively uncommon, but it gained some prominence during the Renaissance period. One notable figure from this era was Terie de Harefleet, a French poet and playwright who lived in the 16th century. His works, though not widely known today, were celebrated during his lifetime for their wit and creativity.
In the 17th century, the name Terie appears in various historical records, particularly in England and Scotland. One notable bearer of this name was Terie MacKinnon, a Scottish chieftain and warrior who led his clan in battles against rival clans in the Scottish Highlands during the late 1600s.
During the 18th century, the name Terie gained some popularity in literary circles. Terie Middleton, an English writer and poet, was known for her romantic poems and sonnets published in the latter part of the century. Her work was well-received by her contemporaries and helped to further popularize the name.
In the 19th century, the name Terie continued to be used, albeit sparingly. One notable figure from this period was Terie Stevenson, a Scottish explorer and naturalist who traveled extensively in Africa and Asia. His accounts of his adventures and discoveries were widely read and contributed to the growth of scientific knowledge during the Victorian era.
While the name Terie has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has maintained a unique and distinct character, reflecting its origins in the Old English language and its association with the concept of earth or land. Its enduring presence, though modest, serves as a testament to the rich tapestry of names that have shaped our understanding of cultural heritage and identity.
People
Terie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Terie 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
Terie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Terie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 280 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Terie 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 1,224,123 US residents.
Is Terie a common name?
We classify Terie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 355 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Terie most popular?
The single biggest year for Terie was 1962, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Terie is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Terie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 400 people with the name Terie, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,171 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 Terie 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 Terie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Terie leans strongly female. 401 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 9 male bearers (2.2%). 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 Terie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Terie is White at 80.5%. The next largest groups are Black (9.0%) and Hispanic (4.5%). 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 Terie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Terie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.5% (322 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 Terie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Terie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Terie 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 Terie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Terie 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 Terie 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 common is the name Terie?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Terie at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.