Terrylee
A feminine name combining Terry, a diminutive of Theresa, with Lee.
Name Census estimates that about 28 living Americans carry the first name Terrylee. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 75.0% of registrations being female. The average person named Terrylee today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Terrylee births was 1948 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Terrylee. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Terrylee is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Terrylees were born before 1969.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Terrylee. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
28
~ 1 in 12,241,226 Americans
Peak year
1948
10 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
1986 SSA rank
#7,441
Tracked since 1947
Census
Terrylee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 298 people with the first name Terrylee, which placed it at #29,601 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
#29,601
National first-name rank
People counted
298
298 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Terrylee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Terrylee is White at 75.5%. The next largest groups are Black (9.1%) and Two or More Races (8.1%). 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 Terrylee 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 Terrylee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.5% · 225
- Black or African American9.1% · 27
- Two or more races8.1% · 24
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Terrylee
Terrylee is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 40 total registrations, 10 (25.0%) were male and 30 (75.0%) were female.
Terrylee as a male name
- Ranked #7,717 in 1986
- 5 male births in 1986
- Peak: 1948 (5 births)
Terrylee as a female name
- Ranked #7,441 in 1965
- 5 female births in 1965
- Peak: 1955 (10 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Terrylee on both sides of the split. Of the 297 people counted with this name, 134 were male (45.1%) and 163 were female (54.9%).
Popularity
Terrylee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Terrylee from the 1940s through to the 1980s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 15 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1940s peak, Terrylee remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Terrylee 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 Terrylee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Terrylee
The name Terrylee is a modern compound given name that combines the names Terry and Lee. It likely originated in English-speaking countries in the 20th century as parents started combining existing names to create unique new ones.
The first part of the name, Terry, is derived from the Old French word "터레" which means "to cultivate the earth." It was originally a surname for someone who worked the land or farmed. Over time, it transitioned into use as a masculine given name, particularly popular in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
The second part, Lee, has multiple possible origins. It could come from the Old English word "leah" meaning a meadow or clearing in the woods. It was commonly used as a surname related to someone's place of residence. Lee could also originate from the Old English word "leof" meaning beloved or dear.
While Terrylee as a combined name is relatively modern, some historical figures shared one part of the name or the other. Terry Brooks, born in 1944, is an American writer best known for his Shannara fantasy series. Lee Harvey Oswald, 1939-1963, was the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy. Terry Fox, 1958-1981, was a Canadian athlete and cancer research activist who inspired fundraising efforts with his Marathon of Hope.
Looking further back in time, Leah was a figure in the biblical Book of Genesis, one of the wives of the patriarch Jacob. The name Lee was borne by leaders like Robert E. Lee, the famous Confederate general during the American Civil War in the 1860s. Earlier examples include the 16th century English playwright and poet Sir Philip Sidney, whose wife's name was Frances Walsingham.
While the combination Terrylee itself does not have an extensive historical record yet, it draws upon naming traditions from different cultures over many centuries. As a newly created name reflecting modern trends of blending names, its future impact and any notable bearers remain to be seen.
People
Terrylee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Terrylee 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
Terrylee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Terrylee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 28 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Terrylee 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 12,241,226 US residents.
Is Terrylee a common name?
We classify Terrylee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 45.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 40 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Terrylee most popular?
The single biggest year for Terrylee was 1948, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Terrylee is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Terrylee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 298 people with the name Terrylee, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,601 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 Terrylee 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 Terrylee?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Terrylee on both sides of the split. Of the 297 people counted with this name, 134 were male (45.1%) and 163 were female (54.9%). 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 Terrylee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Terrylee is White at 75.5%. The next largest groups are Black (9.1%) and Two or More Races (8.1%). 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 Terrylee most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Terrylee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.5% (225 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 Terrylee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Terrylee a female name?
Yes, 75.0% of people registered as Terrylee 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 Terrylee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Terrylee 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 Terrylee 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 have the name Terrylee?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.