Tory
A feminine name derived from a pet form of Dolores, meaning "sorrow".
Name Census estimates that about 10,257 living Americans carry the first name Tory. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 64.1% of registrations being male. The average person named Tory today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tory births was 1977 (466 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tory. 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 Tory with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Tory sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
10K
~ 1 in 33,417 Americans
Peak year
1977
466 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,540
Tracked since 1947
Census
Tory in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,585 people with the first name Tory, which placed it at #2,535 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
#2,535
National first-name rank
People counted
9.6K
9,585 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tory
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tory is White at 60.2%. The next largest groups are Black (28.1%) and Hispanic (4.7%). 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 Tory 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 Tory at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.2% · 5,767
- Black or African American28.1% · 2,695
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 448
- Two or more races4.2% · 404
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 164
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 107
Gender
Gender distribution for Tory
Tory is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 10,870 total registrations, 6,966 (64.1%) were male and 3,904 (35.9%) were female.
Tory as a male name
- Ranked #4,540 in 2024
- 23 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1977 (286 births)
Tory as a female name
- Ranked #5,924 in 2024
- 21 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1977 (180 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Tory on both sides of the split. Of the 9,579 people counted with this name, 5,746 were male (60.0%) and 3,833 were female (40.0%).
Popularity
Tory: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tory from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 2,588 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
Tory 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 Tory during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Torys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 38 states and territories. California, Texas, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Tory, while South Dakota, North Dakota, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 131 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tory
The name Tory has its origins in the Irish language, where it was originally spelled as Toirdhealbhach. This ancient Gaelic name can be traced back to the 10th century CE and is derived from the words "toirdhealb" meaning "pursue" and "ach" meaning "having the quality of." Together, these words combine to form the meaning "pursuing the way of life of a fighter or mercenary."
The name Tory first appeared in historical records during the Early Middle Ages, particularly in the Irish annals detailing the activities of various clans and kingdoms across the island. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Toirdhealbhach Ua Briain, who reigned as the King of Munster from 1009 to 1014 CE.
As the name spread throughout Ireland and Scotland, it underwent various spelling changes, eventually evolving into the modern form of Tory. In the 16th and 17th centuries, during the religious conflicts between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland, the term "Tory" became associated with an Irish Catholic outlaw who supported the cause of the deposed Catholic King James II.
One of the most notable historical figures with the name Tory was Tory Island, an isolated island off the northwest coast of Ireland. This island has been inhabited since the Iron Age and played a significant role in Irish folklore and mythology.
In the realm of literature, the name Tory appears in several ancient Irish texts, including the "Annals of Ulster" and the "Annals of the Four Masters," which chronicle the lives and deeds of various Irish kings and chieftains.
Throughout history, there have been several prominent individuals who bore the name Tory or its variations. One such person was Toirdhealbhach Ó Conchobhair (1088-1156), an Irish king who ruled over Connacht and parts of Ulster. Another notable figure was Toirdhealbhach Ó Briain (1009-1086), a High King of Ireland who led successful military campaigns against Viking invaders.
In more recent times, Tory has been used as a given name, albeit less frequently than in the past. One example is Tory Mussett (born 1983), an English singer-songwriter and musician. Additionally, Tory Belleci (born 1970) is an American television personality and filmmaker known for his work on the show "MythBusters."
Overall, the name Tory has a rich historical background deeply rooted in Irish culture and language, with connections to ancient kings, clans, and mythological tales. Its evolution over the centuries has witnessed various spelling changes and associations, reflecting the complex tapestry of Ireland's past.
People
Tory + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tory 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
Tory: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tory?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10,257 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tory 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 33,417 US residents.
Is Tory a common name?
We classify Tory as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,870 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tory most popular?
The single biggest year for Tory was 1977, when 466 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tory is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tory in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,585 people with the name Tory, or 3.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,535 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 Tory 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 Tory?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Tory on both sides of the split. Of the 9,579 people counted with this name, 5,746 were male (60.0%) and 3,833 were female (40.0%). 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 Tory?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tory is White at 60.2%. The next largest groups are Black (28.1%) and Hispanic (4.7%). 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 Tory most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tory in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.2% (5,767 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 Tory in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tory a male name?
Yes, 64.1% of people registered as Tory 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 Tory still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tory 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 Tory 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 Tory?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.