Terry

TEH-ree

Diminutive of Terence or Thierry, English

"soft; thresher; ruler of the people"

Terry Origin and Meaning

The name Terry is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "soft; thresher; ruler of the people".

One of the first breakaway unisex baby names, Terry, used independently since the days of Terry and the Pirates. Popular in the mid-20th-century, it has fallen out of favor in recent years, replaced by Tommy, Sonny, and Ozzy.

Terry emerged as a diminutive of Terence which derived from a Roman family name of uncertain meaning. Possibilities however include "soft" or "one who threshes". Alternatively, it could be an English contraction of the French Thierry, a variation on Theodoric, meaning "ruler of the people".

Terry Rank in US Top 1000

# 975 in the US

Popularity of the name Terry

• 975 US 2022
• 1057 Nameberry 2025
• 186 Unique 2024
• 845 England 2017

20 Names Similar to Terry

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Terry.

• Sheldon
• Jim
• Denny
• Richmond
• Thompson
• Don
• Tim
• Ashley
• Kenny
• Jan
• Clinton
• Luigi
• Gino
• Barack
• Shelby
• Duff
• Robinson
• Lamar
• Dan
• Ken

Famous People Named Terry

• Terry Paxton Bradshaw American NFL player and actor
• Terence "Terry" Pratchett English novelist
• Terence Richard "Terry" McAuliffe American politician; 72nd Governor of Virginia
• Terry Kiser American actor
• Terry Gene Bollea aka Hulk Hogan American pro wrestler
• Terrence "Terry" Funk American pro wrestler
• Terence Graham Parry "Terry" Jones Welsh actor and comedian
• Michael Terence "Terry" Wogan English radio presenter
• Terence Frederick "Terry" Venables English footballer
• Terence Dean "Terry" Brooks American novelist
• Terrence Jon "Terry" Francona American baseball manager
• Terry Goodkind American novelist
• Terry Zwigoff American filmmaker
• Terence Charles "Terry" Yorath Welsh footballer
• Terry Thomas (born Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens), English actor
• Terry Chen Canadian actor
• Terry Wayne Fator American ventriloquist of"America's Got Talent"
• Terence "Terry" Christian TV and radio presenter
• Terrence "Terry" Sweeney American actor and comedian
• Terrence "Terry" Richardson American photographer
• Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam American,born British actor and comedian
• Terrance Stanley "Terry" Fox Canadian athlete, humanitarian, activist
• Terry Alan Crews American actor and football player
• Terry O'Quinn (born Terrance Quinn) American actor

The name Terry in Pop Culture

• Terry Malloy main character in film "On the Waterfront"
• Terrence "Terry" McGinnis aka Batman main character in animated series "Batman Beyond"
• Terry character in animated series "Aqua Teen Hunger Force"
• Terry Bernadino character on TV's "Reno 911!"
• Terry Bogard character in video games Fatal Fury and King of Fighters
• Terry Boot minor character in the "Harry Potter" series
• Terence Daniel "Terry" Collier character in "The Likely Lads" series
• Terry Kimple a character on TV's "The Cleveland Show"
• Terry Lee main character in comic strip Terry and the Pirates
• Terry McCann character on TV series "Minder"
• Terry McScotty a main character in anime "Battle B,Daman"
• Terry Bellefleur character on TV's "True Blood"
• Terry Fawles character in video game "Ace Attorney"
• Terry Jeffords Terry Crews' loveable character in TV series Brooklyn Nine Nine