Terrel
Masculine · “stubborn”
Terrel is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 2,961 boys against 81 girls since 1880.
Terrel drops a letter that the surname behind it doubles. English family names ending in a doubled l are marked as surnames by that doubling — Terrell, Farrell, Purcell, Russell — and taking one l away is the clearest way of saying this is a first name now.
How old is the name Terrel?
Terrel first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Terrel alive today was born around 1987, making them about 38 years old. About 2,500 people named Terrel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Terrel most popular?
Terrel peaked in 1989, reaching #1082 nationally. See the whole 1989 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Tirel to Terrel
The story of Terrel
The doubled l does real work in English surnames. It marks the final syllable as carrying some weight, which is why Terrell has a stress at the back and Terrel invites one at the front, and it visually flags the word as a family name rather than a given one. Once a surname moves to the front of the name, families frequently simplify it, and the record shows Terrel, Terrell, Tyrell and Terrill running together for a century. This spelling is recorded almost entirely for boys, as the fuller one is; the single l changes how it looks, not who is given it.
Meaningscholars disagree
stubborn, or a puller
The Norman surname is generally read from an Old French word meaning to pull or draw, applied as a nickname for a stubborn person. The derivation is old and not secure.
How the name formed
- Tirel
- Terrell
- Terrel
Pronouncing Terrel
TAIR-ul
Two syllables, the weight usually at the front with this spelling and at the back with the doubled one. Both are heard for both spellings.
Nicknames for Terrel
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
- 1915
- Most boys named
- 198994 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1082reached in 1989
- Change vs 2021
- −36.4%7 in 2024, from 11
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.
Terrels among us
people named Terrel 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
Terrel 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 surname.
- Terry is a ready short form with a life of its own.
- It works as a surname and as a first name, which suits families that use both.
- Terrell, Tyrell and Terrill are all in the record and will be written instead.
- The stress is genuinely unsettled, so the name will be said two ways.
- The spelling is recorded for girls as well as boys in the United States.
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Terrel
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Terrels 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 Terrel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Terrel in 2025?
- Terrel is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Terrel with classmates?
- Terrel 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 Terrel? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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