Teri

Derived as a shortened form of Teresa, an ancient name of uncertain Greek origin often associated with harvest or the Aegean island of Therasia. American parents adopted it as an independent legal name beginning in 1920, swapping traditional suffixes for a brisk four-letter finish.

A Teri belongs squarely to the middle of the twentieth century, arriving just as parents began trimming three-syllable formal names into something lighter. The name suggests someone who remembers when station wagons had rear-facing third rows and who signs birthday cards with a single efficient loop. Today, the average bearer is fifty-nine years old.