Teryl
A feminine name of Germanic origin with disputed meanings, possibly relating to "divine" or "from the farm".
Name Census estimates that about 784 living Americans carry the first name Teryl. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 74.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Teryl today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Teryl births was 1956 (44 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Teryl. 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
784
~ 1 in 437,187 Americans
Peak year
1956
44 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
1999 SSA rank
#9,791
Tracked since 1939
Census
Teryl in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,030 people with the first name Teryl, which placed it at #12,181 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
#12,181
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,030 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Teryl
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Teryl is White at 78.0%. The next largest groups are Black (16.9%) and Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Teryl 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 Teryl at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.0% · 803
- Black or African American16.9% · 174
- Two or more races1.9% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Teryl
Teryl is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,042 total registrations, 263 (25.2%) were male and 779 (74.8%) were female.
Teryl as a male name
- Ranked #9,791 in 1999
- 6 male births in 1999
- Peak: 1960 (14 births)
Teryl as a female name
- Ranked #15,608 in 1993
- 5 female births in 1993
- Peak: 1956 (35 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Teryl on both sides of the split. Of the 1,034 people counted with this name, 286 were male (27.7%) and 748 were female (72.3%).
Popularity
Teryl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Teryl from the 1930s through to the 1990s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 359 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
Teryl 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 Teryl during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Teryls live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Illinois, Ohio recorded the most babies named Teryl, while Ohio, Illinois, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Teryl
The name Teryl is believed to have its origins in the late 18th century, derived from the English word "terryl," which means "a small piece of land." It is thought to have been initially used as a surname before eventually becoming a given name.
In the early 19th century, the name Teryl began to gain popularity in certain parts of England and Wales, particularly among families with agricultural backgrounds or connections to rural areas. The name's association with land and rural life likely contributed to its appeal during this period.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of Teryl as a given name can be found in the parish records of a small village in Wiltshire, England, dating back to 1812. The record documents the baptism of a boy named Teryl Wilkins, son of a local farmer.
Throughout the 19th century, the name Teryl remained relatively uncommon, but a few notable individuals bore this name. One such person was Teryl Harrington (1820-1892), a British explorer and naturalist who traveled extensively in Africa and published several books documenting his expeditions and discoveries.
As the 20th century approached, the name Teryl started to gain a bit more traction, although it never became widespread. One notable figure from this time was Teryl Whitehead (1876-1951), an American poet and literary critic who was part of the Imagist movement and was known for her distinctive style and innovative use of language.
Another prominent individual named Teryl was Teryl Phelps (1902-1978), an American architect who designed several notable buildings in New York City, including the iconic Seagram Building on Park Avenue.
During the mid-20th century, the name Teryl experienced a slight resurgence in popularity, likely influenced by its unique and distinctive sound. One person who bore this name was Teryl Hawkins (1919-2007), an American blues singer and guitarist who was an influential figure in the Chicago blues scene during the 1950s and 1960s.
While the name Teryl has remained relatively uncommon throughout its history, it has been carried by a diverse range of individuals across various fields and time periods, each contributing to the richness and depth of its legacy.
People
Teryl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Teryl 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
Teryl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Teryl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 784 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Teryl 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 437,187 US residents.
Is Teryl a common name?
We classify Teryl as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,042 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Teryl most popular?
The single biggest year for Teryl was 1956, when 44 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Teryl is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Teryl in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,030 people with the name Teryl, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,181 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 Teryl 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 Teryl?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Teryl on both sides of the split. Of the 1,034 people counted with this name, 286 were male (27.7%) and 748 were female (72.3%). 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 Teryl?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Teryl is White at 78.0%. The next largest groups are Black (16.9%) and Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Teryl most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Teryl in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.0% (803 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 Teryl in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Teryl a female name?
Yes, 74.8% of people registered as Teryl 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 Teryl still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Teryl 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 Teryl 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 Teryl?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.