Recorded 1885–2025 · United States
Terrell was most popular in 1989, when 1,004 American babies were given the name — ranking #523 that year. In 2025 it ranked #3,252, with 113 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 38,087 people named Terrell.
Terrell 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 125 of the 141 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 38,087 American births named Terrell 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 33,633 are estimated to be alive today.
113 American babies were named Terrell in 2025, ranking #3,252 that year.
Terrell is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 136 births a year, against 316 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -57% 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 Terrell is a boy’s name — 4.2% of the 38,087 Americans given it were girls and 95.8% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 0% girls and 100% 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 33,633 Americans named Terrell are alive today — 88% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 37 years old, and half are between 26 and 48.
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 Terrell on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org