Terrance as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Terrance

What is the meaning of the name Terrance ?

The baby name Terrance is a boy name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced TEHR-əns.

Terrance is English, Latin in Origin.

Terrance is an English respelling of Terence, whose source is Latin Terentius, the nomen of the Roman gens Terentia. The earliest firmly attested form is Terentius, borne by the second-century BCE comic playwright Publius Terentius Afer. Latin nomina in -ius often mark clan affiliation rather than transparent vocabulary, and no secure literal meaning for Terentius survives; proposals connecting it with tenderness or tertius, third, are folk etymologies.

Terence entered English through medieval and Renaissance familiarity with the Roman dramatist, whose comedies remained school texts. Terrance appears mainly in modern English, especially the United States, alongside Terrence; both expanded in the twentieth century and receded after late-century peaks. Irish and British usage has tended to favor Terence, while Terrance is more characteristically American. Cognate forms include French Térence, Spanish Terencio, and Italian Terenzio, with Terry as a common short form.