Meaning and history
From the English surname Terrell, probably derived from the Norman French nickname tirel, meaning “to pull” and referring to a stubborn person, the name has sometimes been used in honor of civil rights activist Mary Church Terrell (1863–1954). It was common in the African-American community from the 1970s to the 1990s, typically stressed on the second syllable, and a notable bearer is American football player Terrell Owens (1973–).
20062006: 500 births, rank #516
2007: 521 births, rank #508
2008: 480 births, rank #546
2009: 451 births, rank #584
2010: 378 births, rank #639
20112011: 383 births, rank #621
2012: 350 births, rank #675
2013: 322 births, rank #725
2014: 276 births, rank #822
2015: 248 births, rank #890
20162016: 229 births, rank #927
2017: 245 births, rank #876
2018: 215 births, rank #964
2019: 190 births, rank #1,072
2020: 173 births, rank #1,130
20212021: 177 births, rank #1,140
2022: 161 births, rank #1,220
2023: 109 births, rank #1,591
2024: 120 births, rank #1,494
20252025: 113 births, rank #1,529
Terrell moved from #881 to #968 for boys between 2017 and 2018. Its highest annual birth count came in 1989, with 983 births.