Torey
A gender-neutral given name of English origin meaning "elevated place" or "lookout".
Name Census estimates that about 4,156 living Americans carry the first name Torey. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 67.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Torey today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Torey births was 1993 (185 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Torey. 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 Torey with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.2K
~ 1 in 82,472 Americans
Peak year
1993
185 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,235
Tracked since 1953
Census
Torey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,459 people with the first name Torey, which placed it at #5,083 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
#5,083
National first-name rank
People counted
3.5K
3,459 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Torey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Torey is White at 48.3%. The next largest groups are Black (42.3%) and Two or More Races (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 Torey 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 Torey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.3% · 1,671
- Black or African American42.3% · 1,464
- Two or more races4.5% · 155
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 111
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 30
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 28
Gender
Gender distribution for Torey
Torey is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 4,386 total registrations, 2,965 (67.6%) were male and 1,421 (32.4%) were female.
Torey as a male name
- Ranked #8,235 in 2024
- 10 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1987 (123 births)
Torey as a female name
- Ranked #16,079 in 2016
- 6 female births in 2016
- Peak: 1959 (103 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Torey on both sides of the split. Of the 3,470 people counted with this name, 2,204 were male (63.5%) and 1,266 were female (36.5%).
Popularity
Torey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Torey from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,264 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Torey 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 Torey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Toreys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 22 states and territories. Louisiana, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Torey, while South Carolina, New Jersey, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 52 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Torey
The given name Torey has its origins in the Old English language, dating back to the 5th century CE. It is derived from the Old English word "tor," which means a rocky hill or a tower. This suggests that the name was initially associated with people who lived near or on a prominent hill or rocky outcrop.
In the early medieval period, the name Torey was primarily found in the regions of present-day England, particularly in areas with significant Anglo-Saxon settlements. Over time, various spellings emerged, such as Tori, Torie, and Torry, reflecting regional variations and adaptations.
While there are no clear references to the name Torey in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it did appear in historical records and chronicles from the Middle Ages. One of the earliest recorded instances is that of Torey de Mountfort, a Norman knight who fought alongside William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Torey. In the 14th century, Torey de Wynsore was a prominent English architect known for his work on the construction of Windsor Castle. Another figure was Torey Fitzwilliam, a 15th-century English nobleman and military commander who played a significant role in the Wars of the Roses.
During the Renaissance period, Torey Holbein (1497-1543) was a renowned German painter and printmaker who served as the court artist for King Henry VIII of England. His portraits of the English royal family and nobility are considered masterpieces of the time.
In the 18th century, Torey Burke (1744-1783) was an Irish politician and philosopher known for his influential work on political theory and the concept of natural rights. He was a member of the Irish Parliament and a prominent figure in the Age of Enlightenment.
Another notable figure was Torey Stevenson (1858-1924), a Scottish engineer and inventor who made significant contributions to the development of early aviation. He is credited with designing and constructing one of the first successful aircraft models capable of powered flight.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have borne the name Torey, each leaving their mark in various fields such as architecture, art, politics, philosophy, and engineering.
People
Torey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Torey 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
Torey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Torey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,156 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Torey 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 82,472 US residents.
Is Torey a common name?
We classify Torey as "Rare". It ranks above 96.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,386 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Torey most popular?
The single biggest year for Torey was 1993, when 185 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Torey is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Torey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,459 people with the name Torey, or 1.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,083 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 Torey 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 Torey?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Torey on both sides of the split. Of the 3,470 people counted with this name, 2,204 were male (63.5%) and 1,266 were female (36.5%). 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 Torey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Torey is White at 48.3%. The next largest groups are Black (42.3%) and Two or More Races (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 Torey most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Torey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.3% (1,671 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 Torey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Torey a male name?
Yes, 67.6% of people registered as Torey 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 Torey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Torey 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 Torey 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 Torey?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Torey, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.