Terra
Feminine · “earth”
Terra is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 15,429 girls against 5 boys since 1880.
Terra is the earth in Latin — and the root may mean dry, distinguishing land from sea rather than soil from sky.
How old is the name Terra?
Terra first appears in US birth records in 1940 — 85 years ago. The typical Terra alive today was born around 1982, making them about 43 years old. About 15,000 people named Terra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Terra most popular?
Terra peaked in 1980, reaching #379 nationally. Today it ranks #2410, 2,031 places below that high. See the whole 1980 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From terra to Terra
The story of Terra
Terra probably meant the dry part rather than the soil, which is why the sea is its opposite; the root gives terrain, terrestrial and the Mediterranean, the sea in the middle of the land. Terra was also a Roman earth goddess. It appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
earth, land
From the Latin terra, 'earth' or 'land', from a root generally read as 'dry' — land as the dry part, against the sea. The same root gives terrain, territory, terrace and Mediterranean, 'middle of the land'. The Latin is documented.
How the name formed
- terra
- Terra
Related forms: Terra · Terra · Tara
Pronouncing Terra
TER-uh
Two syllables, stress on the first. Latin says TER-rah with a rolled r.
Nicknames for Terra
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
- 1940
- Most girls named
- 1980604 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #379reached in 1980
- Change vs 2023
- −17.8%74 in 2025, from 90
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.
Terra in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Terra in Latin — same name
- Terra in Italian — same name
- Tara in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Terras among us
people named Terra are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 21,720 born in 2025 was named Terra
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Valarie test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Terra's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Valarie climbed just as high around 1964, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Valarie's path sketches the road Terra is walking now.
Terra sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Terra is headed
Terra should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Terra beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Terra in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That terra may mean 'the dry part' is a first-rate etymology.
- That Mediterranean means 'middle of the land' is a genuinely good connection.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- Tara is a separate Irish and Sanskrit name often confused with it.
- It is period-coded to the mid-twentieth century.
- It is an ordinary Latin noun and reads as one.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Terra to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Terra
Feminine · #2410 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Terras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 15,000 people named Terra are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Terra in 2025?
- Terra ranks #2410 among US girl names in 2025, with 74 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Terra?
- About 1 in every 21,720 US girls born in 2025 was named Terra — 74 in all.
- Will my child share the name Terra with classmates?
- Terra will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Terra
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ayda#2410 · Layken#2410 · Leana#2410 · Sanvi#2410 · Sullivan#2410 · Laina#2410 · Natalya#2410 · Danae#2410
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Terra? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Terra and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
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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