Terrill
Masculine
Terrill is given to both — 4,365 boys and 714 girls since 1880. See Terrill as a girl nameSee other names given to both
A Tirel shot a king in the New Forest. Walter Tirel was hunting with William the Second in eleven hundred when an arrow killed the king, and Tirel rode straight for the coast and never came back — one of the most consequential accidents, or assassinations, in English history. The surname behind this name is his.
How old is the name Terrill?
Terrill first appears in US birth records in 1917 — 108 years ago. The typical Terrill alive today was born around 1975, making them about 50 years old. About 3,600 people named Terrill are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Terrill most popular?
Terrill peaked in 1948, reaching #708 nationally. See the whole 1948 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From tirel to Terrill
The story of Terrill
William Rufus was unpopular with the church and had an heir waiting nearby who reached the treasury within hours, so the hunting accident has been argued about for nine hundred years. Tirel denied it for the rest of his life from France. The family kept the name, it spread through England and Ireland, and it arrived in America as a surname that nineteenth-century families began giving to sons — the ordinary route by which a Norman nickname ends up on a birth certificate in Georgia.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
Tirel is generally read as an Old French nickname from tirer, to pull or draw, applied to a stubborn person — one who pulls against the reins. A connection to the Norman house of Thouars has also been proposed. Neither is settled. Terrill, Terrell and Tyrrell are one surname in three coats, and American use has kept all three as given names without distinguishing them.
How the name formed
- tirel
- Tirel
- Tyrrell
- Terrill
Related forms: Tirel
Pronouncing Terrill
TAIR-ul
TAIR-ul, two syllables, stress at the front, the second vowel reduced. Some say tuh-RILL with the weight at the back, and both are heard. Tyrrell and Terrell are said the same two ways.
Nicknames for Terrill
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
- 1917
- Most boys named
- 1975122 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #708reached in 1948
- Change vs 2022
- −45.5%6 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.
Terrill in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Tirel in French — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Michigan.
Terrills among us
people named Terrill 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
Terrill 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
- There is a documented Norman family and a genuinely famous incident behind it.
- Terry is available as a ready short form and a complete name of its own.
- It is uncommon enough that a child will rarely share it.
- Terrell and Tyrrell are both in use and the spelling is dictated every time.
- The stress falls at either end depending on the speaker.
- The origin is unsettled, so any meaning offered is a choice between two.
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Terrill
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Terrills are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,600 people named Terrill are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Terrill in 2025?
- Terrill is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Terrill with classmates?
- Terrill 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 Terrill? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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