Tarrence
Masculine
Tarrence is Terence with an altered vowel and a doubled consonant, and the name underneath has an unusual double life: a Roman playwright's name in Latin, and a substitute in Ireland for a completely unrelated Irish one.
How old is the name Tarrence?
Tarrence first appears in US birth records in 1962 — 63 years ago. The typical Tarrence alive today was born around 1985, making them about 40 years old. About 700 people named Tarrence are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Tarrence most popular?
Tarrence peaked in 1978, reaching #1870 nationally. See the whole 1978 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Tarrence
For a couple of centuries, Irish families registering births in English had to render Irish names into a language that had no equivalents for them. The usual solution was substitution rather than translation: pick an English or classical name that sounds vaguely similar and use it, permanently. Terence became the standard English stand-in for Toirdhealbhach, an old and common Irish name with which it shares no history at all, just a rough resemblance in the first syllable. The same thing happened all over: Cornelius for Conchobhar, Jeremiah for Diarmaid, Timothy for Tadhg. Whole generations of Irish men have a Latin name on their birth certificate and an unrelated Irish one at home, and the documents give no hint that a substitution took place.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Terence is a Roman family name whose own sense is not recovered. In Ireland it was adopted as an English stand-in for an Irish name it has nothing to do with, so the meaning question has two entirely separate answers depending on which family you ask.
Pronouncing Tarrence
TAIR-unss
Two syllables with the stress in front. The doubled r and the a make no audible difference from Terence in most American speech.
Nicknames for Tarrence
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1962
- Most boys named
- 197926 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1870reached in 1978
- Change vs 2018
- −37.5%5 in 2019, from 8
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Tarrence in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Toirdhealbhach in Irish — related form
Tarrences among us
people named Tarrence are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Tarrence sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Terry is available as a short form from the first day and works for a child of either sex.
- The sound is thoroughly familiar, so the name is never a puzzle to say.
- The name behind it has a documented history on two separate islands.
- Terrence and Terence are both commoner, so this spelling will be corrected to one of them regularly.
- Neither altered letter can be heard, so the spelling has to be given aloud every time.
- No reason for the changes is documented, so there is nothing to say when someone asks why.
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Tarrence
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Tarrences are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Tarrence are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Tarrence in 2025?
- Tarrence is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Tarrence with classmates?
- Tarrence will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More T names
The most-given names starting with T, all years combined.
Thomas#34 · Timothy#203 · Tyler#219 · Terry#1115 · Theodore#4 · Travis#434 · Todd#1609 · Tony#783
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Tarrence? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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