Terance
Masculine
The Roman playwright behind this name arrived in Rome as a slave from North Africa, was educated by the senator who owned him, freed, and became one of the two comic dramatists whose work survives entire. His Latin was so clean that schoolboys were still being taught from it fifteen hundred years later.
How old is the name Terance?
Terance first appears in US birth records in 1938 — 87 years ago. The typical Terance alive today was born around 1978, making them about 47 years old. About 2,500 people named Terance are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Terance most popular?
Terance peaked in 1966, reaching #938 nationally. See the whole 1966 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Terentius to Terance
The story of Terance
Publius Terentius Afer wrote six comedies, all of which survive, and the surname Afer says he came from Africa. He took his owner's family name on being freed, which is what freedmen did, and he died young on a journey to Greece. Because his Latin was considered the best model available, his plays were copied continuously through the Middle Ages when almost nothing else pagan was, and a tenth-century German nun wrote Christian plays specifically to give convents an alternative to reading him. The English name comes from him by way of Irish use, and the record carries Terance, Terrance, Terrence and Terence, differing only in how many consonants they double.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The Roman family name Terentius has no established meaning. Like a great many Roman clan names it is probably Etruscan and older than anyone's records.
How the name formed
- Terentius
- Terence
- Terance
Related forms: Toirdhealbhach · Terenzio · Terencio
Pronouncing Terance
TAIR-unss
Two syllables with the weight at the front. Some families use tuh-RANSS, back-weighted, and both are heard.
Nicknames for Terance
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
- 1938
- Most boys named
- 197866 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #938reached in 1966
- Change vs 2021
- +25.0%10 in 2024, 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.
Terance in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Toirdhealbhach in Irish — related form
- Terenzio in Italian — same name
- Terencio in Spanish — same name
Terances among us
people named Terance 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
Terance 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
- It is read correctly at sight by anyone who has met the commoner spelling.
- Terry is a ready short form that asks nothing of anyone.
- The Roman behind it left a complete body of work, which very few name-sources do.
- Terrence, Terrance and Terence are all commoner and will be written instead.
- The stress is genuinely unsettled, so the name will be said two ways.
- It reads clearly as a name of the middle of the twentieth century.
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Terance
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Terances are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,500 people named Terance are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Terance in 2025?
- Terance is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Terance with classmates?
- Terance 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 Terance? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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