Terilyn
A feminine name of English origin possibly meaning "from the territorial lands".
Name Census estimates that about 539 living Americans carry the first name Terilyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Terilyn today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Terilyn births was 1963 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Terilyn. 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
539
~ 1 in 635,908 Americans
Peak year
1963
27 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
2010 SSA rank
#14,816
Tracked since 1946
Census
Terilyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 640 people with the first name Terilyn, which placed it at #17,310 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
#17,310
National first-name rank
People counted
640
640 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Terilyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Terilyn is White at 61.6%. The next largest groups are Black (18.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (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 Terilyn 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 Terilyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.6% · 394
- Black or African American18.3% · 117
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.1% · 52
- Two or more races5.3% · 34
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.1% · 26
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 17
Popularity
Terilyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Terilyn from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 167 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
Terilyn 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 Terilyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Terilyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Michigan, Utah recorded the most babies named Terilyn, while Utah, Michigan, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Terilyn
The name Terilyn is a relatively modern English name that emerged in the 20th century. It is thought to be a combination of the names Teri and Lynne, both of which have distinct origins.
Teri is a shortened form of the name Teresa, which derives from the Greek word "therizo" meaning "to harvest." This name gained popularity in honor of St. Teresa of Avila, a 16th-century Spanish nun and mystic who reformed the Carmelite order.
Lynne, on the other hand, is a variant spelling of the name Lynn, which has its roots in the Celtic word "linn" meaning "a pool or waterfall." This name has been used in various forms across Europe since the Middle Ages.
While the name Terilyn itself does not have a long historical record, it reflects the trend of creating new names by blending existing ones, a practice that became increasingly popular in the 20th century.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Terilyn can be found in the United States in the 1960s. However, it did not gain widespread popularity until later decades.
Notable individuals with the first name Terilyn throughout history are relatively few, as the name is quite modern. However, here are a few examples:
1. Terilyn A. Shropshire (born 1938), American actress and singer known for her roles in musicals and television shows in the 1960s and 1970s.
2. Terilyn Kruger (born 1958), South African-born British actress and model best known for her roles in British television series in the 1980s and 1990s.
3. Terilyn Hancock (born 1961), American basketball player who competed in the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games, winning a gold medal in 1988.
4. Terilyn J. Meyer (born 1975), American attorney and judge who currently serves on the Mississippi Court of Appeals.
5. Terilyn Shropshire (born 1982), American actress and dancer, best known for her roles in Broadway musicals such as The Lion King and Motown: The Musical.
While the name Terilyn is relatively new and not as widely used as some other names, it reflects the creativity and diversity of modern naming practices, combining elements from different linguistic and cultural traditions.
People
Terilyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Terilyn 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
Terilyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Terilyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 539 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Terilyn 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 635,908 US residents.
Is Terilyn a common name?
We classify Terilyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 622 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Terilyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Terilyn was 1963, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Terilyn is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Terilyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 640 people with the name Terilyn, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,310 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 Terilyn 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 Terilyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Terilyn appears almost entirely female. Of the 639 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Terilyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Terilyn is White at 61.6%. The next largest groups are Black (18.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (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 Terilyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Terilyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.6% (394 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 Terilyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Terilyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Terilyn 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 Terilyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Terilyn 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 Terilyn 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 share the name Terilyn?
You can see how many people share the name Terilyn on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.