Terence
- Pronunciation
- [Te-rence]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- Old Form Of The Roman Clan Name Terrance.
- Origin
- Irish
About the Name Terence
Terence comes from the old Roman clan name Terentius, borne most famously in antiquity by a celebrated playwright of the Roman stage, and carried into Irish use where it served as an Anglicization of native Gaelic names. The result is a name with both classical Roman gravity and Irish warmth, dignified and a touch scholarly in tone. Its three measured syllables give it a formal, articulate cadence that has long suited it to a learned, refined impression.
One notable bearer is Terence McKenna (1946–2000), an American ethnobotanist, lecturer, and author whose recorded talks on psychedelic plants, language, and consciousness made him an underground figure in the late twentieth century. The name also anchors an unusually large family of related forms: recorded variants include Tarrence, Terran, Terrance, Terrence, Terri, Terrin, Terris, Terron, Terry, Terryn, Teryn, Torrence, Tyreece, and Tyrese — with Terry the most familiar everyday short form.
In the United States, Terence appeared in the Social Security top-1000 from 2000 through 2003, reaching its best rank of #800 in its debut year. It stood at #930 in 2003, its final charted year, having accounted for roughly 543 births across that brief span — a classical, lettered name with a quietly distinguished standing and a wealth of related spellings to draw on.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Terence
US Popularity History (2000–2003)
Annual US births named Terence by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2000 with 202 boys named Terence (boy rank #800 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2003, ranked #930 for boys (177 US births). That's 130 places below its 2000 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Variant Forms
| Name | Meaning | Gender | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tarrence | Roman Clan Name. | Male | English |
| Terran | Terran Means Earthman. Variants Are Contemporary Rhyming Blends Of Ter- Plus Darin. | Male | English |
| Terrance | Roman Clan Name. | Male | English |
| Terrence | Tender | Male | Irish |
| Terri | Abbreviation Of Teresa Which Is A Popular Saint's Name Of Uncertain Meaning. | Female | English |
| Terrin | Abbreviation Of Teresa Which Is A Popular Saint's Name Of Uncertain Meaning. | Female | English |
| Terris | Son Of Terrell | Male | English |
| Terron | Terran Means Earthman. Variants Are Contemporary Rhyming Blends Of Ter- Plus Darin. | Male | English |
| Terry | Abbreviation Of Teresa Which Is A Popular Saint's Name Of Uncertain Meaning. | Female | English |
| Terryn | Abbreviation Of Teresa Which Is A Popular Saint's Name Of Uncertain Meaning. | Female | English |
| Teryn | Abbreviation Of Teresa Which Is A Popular Saint's Name Of Uncertain Meaning. | Female | English |
| Torrence | From The Craggy Hills. Tor Is A Name For A Craggy Hilltop And Also May Refer To A Watchtower. | Male | Scottish |
| Tyreece | Derivative Of The Scandinavian God Of Battle Tyr. Tuesday Was Named For Tyr. | Male | Irish |
| Tyrese | Talented Leader Of The Well Being. | Male | African |
Famous People Named Terence
1 notable figure from history and culture who share the name Terence.
- Terence McKenna was a famous psychonaut, ethnobotanist, writer and lecturer.
Looking for names like Terence?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Terence to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Terence against today's most popular boys-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).