Recorded 1885–2024 · United States
Tera was most popular in 1984, when 416 American babies were given the name — ranking #879 that year. It was not recorded in 2025. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 9,918 people named Tera.
Tera first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1885, which makes it about 140 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 124 of the 141 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 9,918 American births named Tera between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 9,205 are estimated to be alive today.
Tera was not recorded in 2025. The SSA withholds any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so fewer than five American babies were given it.
Tera is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 12 births a year, against 21 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -42% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Tera is a girl’s name — 100.0% of the 9,918 Americans given it were girls and 0.0% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 100% girls and 0% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 9,205 Americans named Tera are alive today — 93% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 45 years old, and half are between 38 and 51.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Tera on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org