Terre
A feminine French name meaning "earth" or "land".
Name Census estimates that about 704 living Americans carry the first name Terre. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 89.4% of registrations being female. The average person named Terre today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Terre births was 1956 (60 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Terre. 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
704
~ 1 in 486,867 Americans
Peak year
1956
60 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
1997 SSA rank
#8,026
Tracked since 1942
Census
Terre in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,017 people with the first name Terre, which placed it at #12,287 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
#12,287
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,017 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Terre
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Terre is White at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Black (13.9%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Terre 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 Terre at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.9% · 802
- Black or African American13.9% · 141
- Two or more races2.9% · 29
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Terre
Terre leans heavily female at 89.4% of total registrations, but 99 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Terre as a male name
- Ranked #8,026 in 1997
- 7 male births in 1997
- Peak: 1955 (10 births)
Terre as a female name
- Ranked #15,405 in 1992
- 5 female births in 1992
- Peak: 1956 (55 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Terre leans strongly female. 854 people counted with this name were female (83.7%), compared with 166 male bearers (16.3%).
Popularity
Terre: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Terre from the 1940s through to the 1990s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 393 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
Terre 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 Terre during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Terres live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Terre, while Missouri, Michigan, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 17 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Terre
The name Terre originates from the French word "terre," which means "earth" or "land." It is a feminine name that has been used in various French-speaking regions for centuries.
The earliest recorded use of the name Terre dates back to the Middle Ages, when it was sometimes given to children born in rural areas or to those with a strong connection to the land. In some cases, the name may have been inspired by the French word "terrien," which means "earthly" or "down-to-earth."
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Terre was Terre Deschamps, a French noblewoman who lived in the 14th century. She was a prominent figure in the court of King Charles V of France and was known for her patronage of the arts.
Another notable Terre from history was Terre de Beaumanoir, a French military leader who fought in the Hundred Years' War against the English in the 15th century. He is best remembered for his heroic defense of the town of Rennes in 1356.
In the 16th century, Terre de Bourges was a French poet and writer who is credited with helping to establish the French Renaissance literary movement. Her works were widely read and admired during her lifetime.
A more recent historical figure with the name Terre was Terre Roubaix, a French artist and sculptor who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was known for her innovative use of materials and her abstract sculptures, which were highly influential in the development of modern art.
Finally, Terre Blanche was a French singer and actress who rose to prominence in the 1930s and 1940s. She was known for her sultry voice and her performances in several popular French films of the time.
While the name Terre has its roots in the French language, it has been adopted in various other cultures and regions over the centuries, often with slight variations in spelling or pronunciation. Regardless of its origins, the name Terre has a strong connection to the earth and the natural world, making it a unique and evocative choice for parents seeking a name with a deep historical and cultural significance.
People
Terre + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Terre 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
Terre: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Terre?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 704 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Terre 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 486,867 US residents.
Is Terre a common name?
We classify Terre as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 937 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Terre most popular?
The single biggest year for Terre was 1956, when 60 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Terre is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Terre in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,017 people with the name Terre, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,287 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 Terre 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 Terre?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Terre leans strongly female. 854 people counted with this name were female (83.7%), compared with 166 male bearers (16.3%). 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 Terre?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Terre is White at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Black (13.9%) and Two or More Races (2.9%). 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 Terre most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Terre in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.9% (802 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 Terre in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Terre a female name?
Yes, 89.4% of people registered as Terre 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 Terre still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Terre 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 Terre 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 Terre?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.