Teri
A feminine name of Latin origin meaning "to harvest".
Name Census estimates that about 35,769 living Americans carry the first name Teri. It is a predominantly female name (99.5% of registrations). The average person named Teri today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Teri births was 1960 (2,340 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Teri. 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 Teri with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Teri is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 214 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1960s, recent registration numbers for Teri have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
36K
~ 1 in 9,582 Americans
Peak year
1960
2,340 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
1988 SSA rank
#7,165
Tracked since 1920
Census
Teri in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 38,648 people with the first name Teri, which placed it at #1,075 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
#1,075
National first-name rank
People counted
39K
38,648 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
12.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
86.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Teri
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Teri is White at 86.5%. The next largest groups are Black (5.0%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Teri 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 Teri at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.5% · 33,425
- Black or African American5.0% · 1,926
- Two or more races3.1% · 1,205
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 1,112
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 660
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 320
Gender
Gender distribution for Teri
Out of the 44,164 babies given the name Teri since 1880, 99.5% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Teri as a male name
- Ranked #7,165 in 1988
- 6 male births in 1988
- Peak: 1955 (17 births)
Teri as a female name
- Ranked #10,984 in 2024
- 9 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1960 (2,330 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Teri appears almost entirely female. Of the 38,647 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Teri: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Teri from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 16,822 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Teri 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 Teri during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Teris live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Teri, while Vermont, Rhode Island, New Hampshire recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 810 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Teri
The name Teri is a diminutive form of the feminine name Theresa, which has its origins in the Greek language. Theresa is derived from the Greek word "therizo," meaning "to harvest" or "to reap." The name gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly in Christian communities, as it was associated with Saint Teresa of Avila, a renowned Spanish mystic and reformer who lived from 1515 to 1582.
Teri emerged as a shortened version of Theresa, likely originating in English-speaking countries. The earliest recorded use of the name Teri can be traced back to the 19th century, although it became more widely adopted in the 20th century.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Teri was Teri Garr, an American actress born in 1947. She is best known for her roles in films such as "Young Frankenstein" and "Tootsie." Another famous Teri was Teri Hatcher, an American actress born in 1964, who gained widespread recognition for her role as Susan Mayer in the television series "Desperate Housewives."
In the realm of literature, Teri Garr, an American author and poet, published several works in the late 20th century, including "Lyrics for the Living" and "Bones of Birds." Additionally, Teri Polo, an American actress born in 1969, is known for her roles in films like "Meet the Parents" and its sequels.
In the world of sports, Teri Ganong was a notable figure, born in 1958. She was an American professional wrestler and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2015. Furthermore, Teri McKeever, born in 1962, is an American swimming coach who has led the University of California, Berkeley women's swimming and diving team to numerous championships.
While the name Teri has its roots in Greek and Christian traditions, it has transcended cultural and linguistic boundaries, becoming a popular name in various parts of the world. Its diminutive form and easy pronunciation have contributed to its widespread use across different regions and communities.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Teri
People
Teri + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Teri 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
Teri: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Teri?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 35,769 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Teri 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 9,582 US residents.
Is Teri a common name?
We classify Teri as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 44,164 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Teri most popular?
The single biggest year for Teri was 1960, when 2,340 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Teri is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Teri in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 38,648 people with the name Teri, or 12.80 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,075 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 Teri 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 Teri?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Teri appears almost entirely female. Of the 38,647 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Teri?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Teri is White at 86.5%. The next largest groups are Black (5.0%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Teri most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Teri in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.5% (33,425 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 Teri in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Teri a female name?
Yes, 99.5% of people registered as Teri 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 Teri still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Teri 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 Teri 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 common is the name Teri?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.