Termaine
Masculine
Termaine is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 688 boys against 13 girls since 1880.
Termaine sits between two other names and could be either, and the record holds it almost entirely for sons. The American place name its back half spells has an origin that nobody has established, which did not stop the state settling the question by vote.
How old is the name Termaine?
Termaine first appears in US birth records in 1971 — 54 years ago. The typical Termaine alive today was born around 1986, making them about 39 years old. About 700 people named Termaine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Termaine most popular?
Termaine peaked in 1982, reaching #1464 nationally. See the whole 1982 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Termaine
Nobody knows why Maine is called Maine. The three standing theories are that early French settlers named it after the province of Maine in France, that English sailors called the mainland the main to distinguish it from the islands, or that it comes from an English village called Broadmayne where a proprietor held land. The documentary evidence for all three is thin, and historians have gone round it for two centuries. In two thousand and one the state legislature settled the matter the only way a legislature can: it passed a resolution declaring that the state was named after the French province, and established a sister-province relationship on the strength of it. The resolution does not make the etymology true. It does mean the state now has an official answer, which is more than most places manage.
Meaningnot established
Not established
It may be a Cornish surname with two letters transposed, or a respelling of a French-derived name about siblings, or a build on a free front. The three are unrelated and the record contains all of them in the same decades.
Pronouncing Termaine
ter-MAYN
Two syllables with the stress at the back. The first vowel is unstressed and therefore free, which is why this family has so many spellings of it.
Nicknames for Termaine
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
- 1971
- Most boys named
- 198243 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1464reached in 1982
- Change vs 2017
- −40.0%6 in 2018, from 10
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.
Termaines among us
people named Termaine 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
Termaine 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
- Back stress gives a two-syllable name a firm landing.
- Terry comes off it as a short form and needs no explanation.
- The spelling is phonetic by English rules and can be written from hearing.
- Tremaine, Termaine and Jermaine will all be written for it.
- The spelling is recorded for a few girls, but nearly every child with it is a boy.
- The three possible origins are unrelated, so the meaning question has no single answer.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Termaine
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Termaines 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 Termaine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Termaine in 2025?
- Termaine is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Termaine with classmates?
- Termaine 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 Termaine? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Termaine and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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