How popular is the baby name Terry in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Terry.

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Popularity of the baby name Terry


Posts that mention the name Terry

What gave the baby name Sherry a boost in 1962?

The Four Seasons album "Sherry & 11 Others" (1962)
Four Seasons album

The baby name Sherry, already popular in the early 1960s, reached peak usage in 1962 specifically:

  • 1964: 8,495 baby girls named Sherry [rank: 50th]
  • 1963: 9,065 baby girls named Sherry [rank: 49th]
  • 1962: 9,226 baby girls named Sherry [rank: 48th]
  • 1961: 8,358 baby girls named Sherry [rank: 53rd]
  • 1960: 8,314 baby girls named Sherry [rank: 54th]

What accounts for that sudden jump into the girls’ top 50?

The song “Sherry” by The Four Seasons, a vocal quartet led by Frankie Valli (and his distinctive falsetto).

“Sherry,” the group’s second single, was released in July of 1962. In mid-September it reached #1 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart (dethroning “Sheila” by Tommy Roe). It remained in the top spot for five weeks straight.

Here’s what “Sherry” sounds like:

Originally entitled “Terry,” the song was written (in about fifteen minutes) by Four Seasons member Bob Gaudio. When Bob shared it with the rest of the group, the reaction was mixed: “[S]ome of the guys liked it and some didn’t.”

Unable to come to a consensus, they played it for their producer, Bob Crewe, over the phone. Crewe loved the song, but not the name. He considered replacing it with Jackie (after First Lady Jackie Kennedy) and Peri (the name of one of his record labels) before settling upon Sherry — a respelling of Cheri, the name of the daughter of one of his good friends, New York disc jockey Jack Spector.

What are your thoughts on the name Sherry? (Do you like it more or less than Sheila?)

P.S. The name’s steep rise in 1946 may be largely attributable to the baby boom, but I think a second influence was the 1946 western Abilene Town, which featured a character named Sherry (played by actress Rhonda Fleming).

Sources:

Where did the baby name Louden come from in 1986?

The character Louden Swain from the movie "Vision Quest" (1985)
Louden Swain from “Vision Quest“

The name Louden first appeared in the U.S. baby name data the mid-1980s:

  • 1988: unlisted
  • 1987: 9 baby boys named Louden
  • 1986: 8 baby boys named Louden [debut]
  • 1985: unlisted
  • 1984: unlisted

What put it there?

The coming-of-age movie Vision Quest (1985), which told the story of amateur wrestler Louden Swain.

Louden Swain (played by actor Matthew Modine) was a high school senior in Spokane. He had two goals: to quickly lose 23 pounds so that he could wrestle undefeated Washington state champion Brian Shute (played by Frank Jasper), and to win the affections of an older woman named Carla (played by Linda Fiorentino).

The title of the film is a reference to the Native American “vision quest” — a rite of passage undertaken by adolescent boys that involved (among other things) a period of fasting.

The movie was based on the 1979 novel of the same name by author Terry Davis.

What are your thoughts on the name Louden?

P.S. Did you know that pop singer Madonna made her first movie appearance in Vision Quest? She played a singer at a local bar. The music video for her song “Crazy for You” [vid] features clips of the film.

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of Vision Quest

Baby born in England, named after entire soccer team (1973)

soccer game

In November of 1973, the Oatway family of London welcomed a baby boy.

The Oatways were big fans of Queens Park Rangers Football Club, so they decided to name the baby “Anthony Philip David Terry Frank Donald Stanley Gerry Gordon Stephen James” after QPR’s entire first team squad.

I wasn’t able to find any QPR players from 1973 named Stephen or James, but I did find players with the other names:

NamePlayer(s)
Anthony
Philip
David
Terry
Frank
Donald
Stanley
Gerry
Gordon
Stephen
James		Tony Hazell
Phil Parkes
Dave Clement or Dave Thomas
Terry Venables or Terry Mancini
Frank McLintock
Don Givens
Stan Bowles
Gerry Francis
Gordon Jago (manager)
?
?

Ironically, the baby was never known by any of those 11 given names. He simply went by “Charlie.” As he later explained,

Charlie is just a nickname. An aunt told my parents they couldn’t name me after the QPR team because I’d look a right Charlie — and the name just stuck.

Charlie Oatway — unlike the other people I know of who were named after soccer teams (Liverpool F.C., Leeds United F.C., Burnley F.C.) — grew up to become a professional footballer. He played on various teams during the 1990s and 2000s, though, unfortunately, he never played for Queens Park Rangers.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Portugal 2-3 Denmark, Football by José Goulão under CC BY-SA 2.0.

How did “Battlestar Galactica” influence baby names in the late 1970s?

The TV show "Battlestar Galactica" (1978-1979)

Today, Battlestar Galactica is a sci-fi media franchise. But the original TV series wasn’t terribly successful — it aired on ABC for a single season (September of 1978 to April of 1979) before being canceled.

Still, the initial show managed to have an impact on American baby names. Here are the names that Battlestar Galactica characters managed to influence in the late 1970s:

  • Adama — from Commander Adama (played by Lorne Greene of Bonanza fame). The name Adama debuted (for boys) in 1978.
  • Apollo — from Captain Apollo, the son of Commander Adama. The name Apollo saw a rise in usage in 1978, and then-peak usage in 1979. (That peak was eclipsed in 2002 after speed skater Apolo Ohno became famous.)
  • Athena and Maren — from the daughter of Commander Adama, Lieutenant Athena (played by Maren Jensen). The name Athena saw a spike in usage 1979, and Maren nearly tripled in usage the same year.
  • Cassiopeia — from the character Cassiopeia, who was a “socialator” (a.k.a. prostitute). The name Cassiopeia debuted in 1979.
  • Starbuck — from Lieutenant Starbuck. The name Starbuck was a one-hit wonder in 1979. Both the name of the Lieutanant and the name of the famous coffee chain were inspired by the Moby Dick character Starbuck.
  • Tigh — from Colonel Tigh (played by Terry Carter, whose stage name was inspired in part by the comic strip Terry & the Pirates). The name Tigh debuted in 1979, and the spelling Tighe saw peak usage the same year.
The character Colonel Tigh from the TV series "Battlestar Galactica" (1978-1979).

Would you consider using any of the names above?

Source: Battlestar Galactica – IMDb