Torry
A masculine name derived from the river Torre in Spain.
Name Census estimates that about 1,593 living Americans carry the first name Torry. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 86.1% of registrations being male. The average person named Torry today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Torry births was 1977 (87 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Torry. 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
1.6K
~ 1 in 215,163 Americans
Peak year
1977
87 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2022 SSA rank
#8,227
Tracked since 1946
Gender
Gender distribution for Torry
Torry leans heavily male at 86.1% of total registrations, but 236 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Torry as a male name
- Ranked #8,227 in 2022
- 10 male births in 2022
- Peak: 1976 (71 births)
Torry as a female name
- Ranked #18,625 in 2004
- 5 female births in 2004
- Peak: 1977 (24 births)
Popularity
Torry: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Torry from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 507 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Torry 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 Torry during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Torrys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Texas, Illinois, Georgia recorded the most babies named Torry, while Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Torry
The given name Torry is believed to have originated from the Old English language, with its roots traced back to the Anglo-Saxon era in the 5th and 6th centuries. It is thought to be a diminutive form of the name Tor, which was derived from the Old English word "tor," meaning a rocky hill or a tower.
In ancient times, the name Torry was predominantly found in areas where Anglo-Saxon settlements were established, such as England, parts of Scotland, and certain regions of modern-day Germany and the Netherlands. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in medieval English records and parish registers from the 12th and 13th centuries.
One of the earliest known historical figures bearing the name Torry was Torry de Bohun, a Norman knight who fought alongside William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. Another notable figure was Torry de Vere, a 13th-century English nobleman and landowner from the influential de Vere family.
In the realm of literature, the name Torry appeared in the works of renowned English poet Geoffrey Chaucer, who lived from approximately 1343 to 1400. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories written in Middle English, featured a character named Torry the Miller.
During the Renaissance period, Torry Tressilian (1505-1572) was a prominent English soldier and courtier who served under King Henry VIII and was known for his bravery in battles against the French. Later, in the 17th century, Torry Fairfax (1612-1671) was an English general and military leader who played a significant role in the English Civil War.
Another historical figure of note was Torry Walpole (1676-1745), an English politician and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1721 to 1742. He was instrumental in establishing the Whig party's dominance in British politics during the early 18th century.
While the name Torry has endured throughout history, its popularity has waxed and waned over time, with periods of greater or lesser usage in different regions. Nonetheless, it remains a distinctive and intriguing name with a rich heritage rooted in the ancient Anglo-Saxon language and culture.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Torry
People
Torry + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Torry 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
Torry: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Torry?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,593 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Torry 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 215,163 US residents.
Is Torry a common name?
We classify Torry as "Rare". It ranks above 92.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,696 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Torry most popular?
The single biggest year for Torry was 1977, when 87 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Torry is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Torry a male name?
Yes, 86.1% of people registered as Torry 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.
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.