Tracy (; also spelled Tracey, Traci, Tracci, Tracee, Treacy or Tracie, or Trasci), is an English given name and surname. As a British personal name, it was originally adopted from Norman surnames such as those of the family de Tracy or de Trasci from Tracy-Bocage in Normandy, France. Derived from the Gaulish male name Draccios, or Latin Thracius ("of Thrace, Thracian"), and the well-identified Celtic suffix -āko ("place, property"), such Norman surnames themselves sprang from several Tracy place-names in France.Albert Dauzat and Charles Rostaing, Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de lieux en France, Librairie Guénégaud 1979. p. 682.
The Irish surname Tracey, which may similarly have contributed to the adoption of the English personal name, is derived from the native Irish O'Treasaigh septs. The name is taken from the Irish word "treasach" meaning "war-like" or "fighter". It is also translated as "higher", "more powerful" or "superior". It may also be derived from the Irish word for three, with an association to the Tuatha Dé Danann. The first reference to the surname in the Irish annals was in 1008: "Gussan, son of Ua Treassach, lord of Ui-Bairrche, died."
According to historian C. Thomas Cairney, the O'Tracys were one of the chiefly families of the Uí Bairrche who were a tribe of the Erainn who were the second wave of Celts to settle in Ireland between about 500 and 100 BC.
As a given name for girls, Tracy is a traditional English hypocorism for the name Teresa. Cultural influences Usage of the name for boys was popularized by Dick Tracy, a fictional police detective in the American comic strip Dick Tracy, which has been in syndication since 1931, and by the fame of American actor Spencer Tracy.
It was popularized as a name for girls by Tracy Lord, a beautiful heiress played by Katharine Hepburn in the 1940 American romantic comedy film The Philadelphia Story and by Grace Kelly in the 1956 American romantic comedy musical film High Society, a remake of the 1940 film. Usage in the United States might have been affected by Tracy Ann Boyle, the daughter of newspaper columnist Hal Boyle. Boyle wrote about his daughter from the time he adopted her in 1953 until the early 1970s and her photograph was occasionally published in newspapers nationwide. Tracy, a bubblegum pop song by American band The Cufflinks, was released in 1969 and was a hit song throughout the English-speaking world. The song likely also influenced the popularity of the name in 1970. Another influence was the character Tracy Bond, the doomed wife of British secret agent James Bond in the film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, which was released in December 1969.
Given name
Australia
Tracy ranked among the 100 most popular names for girls in Australia between 1960 and 1981.
Canada
Tracy ranked among the 100 most popular names for Canadian girls between 1957 and 1984 and was among the ten most popular names for Canadian girls between 1969 and 1973.
France
Tracy was among the top 500 names for French girls between 1989 and 2003. It peaked in use in 1991, when it was ranked No. 169 on the French popularity chart.
Great Britain
In England and Wales, the name Tracy was not unknown but unusual, with about two a year from 1837 until 1955, after which the name quite suddenly became very popular, rising to a maximum of 7,667 girls being given that name in 1964. After 1970 the popularity quickly declined to 475 in 1985.Data extracted from FreeBMD database. It was among the top 100 names for girls in Scotland between 1964 and 1987. It peaked in popularity in 1970, when it was the 10th most popular name for Scottish girls.
+ Year Number registered 1836–1847 15 1846–1857 7 1856–1867 14 1866–1877 19 1876–1887 40 1886–1897 27 1896–1907 21 1906–1917 5 1916–1927 5 1926–1937 7 1938 1 1939 1 1940 0 1941 5 1942 2 1943 3 1944 8 1945 4 1946 2 1947 5 1948 3 1949 1 1950 2 1951 2 1952 6 1953 4 1954 18 1955 10 1956 29 + Year Number registered 1957 271 1958 399 1959 536 1960 1,163 1961 2,640 1962 2,857 1963 4,546 1964 7,667 1965 7,222 1966 7,034 1967 6,052 1968 6,117 1969 5,188 1970 7,737 1971 6,453 1972 5,096 1973 3,861 1974 3,219 1975 2,789 1976 2,036 1977 2,340 1978 2,315 1979 2,056 1980 1,734 1981 1,319 1982 1,052 1983 899 1984 830 1985 475
Ireland
Tracy was among the 100 most popular names for girls in Ireland between 1970 and 1988. It was most popular in 1971, when it was the 54th most popular names for Irish girls.
New Zealand
Tracy ranked among the 100 most popular names for girls in New Zealand between 1961 and 1985. It peaked in 1970, when it was the 11th most popular names for girls in New Zealand.
United States
Tracy, as a transferred use of the surname, has been in use as a masculine name in the United States since the 19th century. It was among the 1,000 most popular names for American boys between 1880 and 1999, was among the top 200 names for boys between 1959 and 1974, and was at the height of popularity as a male name between 1966 and 1967, when it ranked 98th on the U.S. popularity chart for boys.
The name Tracy has been in occasional use as an independent name since the 19th century for American girls and appeared sporadically among the 1,000 most popular names for American girls in the 1880s and 1890s. Tracy ranked among the 1,000 most popular given names for American girls between 1942 and 2004 and was among the top 100 names for American girls between 1960 and 1984. It peaked in 1970, when it was the 10th most popular name for American girls.
People
Surname
Tracy or Tracey Tracey (surname) Tracy (surname) Treacy
Trasci Unrelated (pronounced "trashee") Ferruccio Baffa Trasci (1590–1656), Italian bishop, theologian and philosopher Demetrio Baffa Trasci Amalfitani Italian fashion editor, model and writer
De Tracy de Tracy
Given name Women Tracey Tracey Adams (born 1954), American abstract painter and printmaker Tracey Adams, American pornographic film actress Tracey Anarella (born 1963), American documentary filmmaker Tracey Andersson (born 1984), Swedish hammer thrower Tracey Atkin (born 1971), British swimmer Tracey Baker-Simmons (born 1967), American television producer Tracey Baptiste (born 1972), Trinidad and Tobago writer Tracey Ann Barnes (born 1975), Jamaican sprinter Tracey Beatty (born 1979), Australian basketball player Tracey Belbin (born 1967), Australian field hockey player Tracey Bell, Canadian comedian, impersonator, and impressionist Tracey Bernett (born 1955), American politician Tracey Birdsall (born 1963), American actress Tracey E. Bregman (born 1963), American actress Tracey Brindley (born 1972), British mountain runner Tracey Brown, Canadian country singer Tracey Brown, British scientist Tracey D. Brown, American businesswoman Tracey Browning (born 1963), Australian basketball player Tracey Challenor, Australian journalist Tracey Childs (born 1963), English actress Tracey Collins, American educator Tracey Conway (born 1956), American actress, comedian, writer, and cardiac health advocate Tracey Corderoy (born 1965), British children's writer Tracey Cox (born 1961), English author and columnist Tracey Crawford (born c. 1970), British television announcer and radio presenter Tracey Cross (born 1972), Australian Paralympic swimmer Tracey Crouch (born 1975), British politician Tracey Curro (born 1963), Australian journalist Tracey Curtis-Taylor (born 1962), British aviator Tracey Damigella (born c. 1969), American figure skater Tracey Davidson (born 1961), English football goalkeeper Tracey Davis (born 1977), Australian synchronized swimmer Tracey DeKeyser, Canadian ice hockey player and coach Tracey Deer (born 1978), Canadian screenwriter, film director, and newspaper publisher Tracey Dey (born 1943), American pop singer Tracey Dorow, American basketball player and coach Tracey Duke, New Zealand association football player Tracey Edmonds (born 1967), American television producer, television personality, and president and CEO of Edmonds Entertainment Group, Inc. Tracey Eide (born 1954), American politician Tracey Ellis, Canadian actress Tracey Emin (born 1963), English contemporary artist Tracey Fear (born 1959), Australian-New Zealand netball player Tracey Ferguson (born 1974), Canadian Paralympic wheelchair basketball player Tracey Forbes, Canadian television writer and producer Tracey Freeman (1948–2023), Australian Paralympic track and field athlete Tracey Fuchs (born 1966), American field hockey player Tracey Gaudry (born 1969), Australian sport administrator, cyclist, and businesswoman Tracey Gloster, British chemist Tracey Gold (born 1969), American actress Tracey Greenwood, American fitness competitor Tracey Hall, American basketball player Tracey Hallam (born 1975), English badminton player Tracey Hannah (born 1988), Australian downhill cyclist Tracey Herd (born 1968), Scottish poet Tracey Hiete (born 1971), American tennis player Tracey Hinton (born 1970), British Paralympic track and field athlete Tracey Holloway, American scientist and academic Tracey Holmes, Australian journalist and presenter Tracey Hoyt (born 1950), Canadian voice actress Tracey Jackson (born 1958), American author, blogger, screenwriter, film director, and producer Tracey Jackson, American talent agent Tracey Ann Jacobson (born 1965), American politician Tracey Johnston-Aldworth (born 1957), Canadian businesswoman and entrepreneur Tracey Kelliher, Irish singer and songwriter, known professionally as Tracey K Tracey Ann Kelly, American television soap opera writer Tracey Lambrechs (born 1985), New Zealand weightlifter Tracey Larson (born 1978), American field hockey player Tracey Leone (born 1967), American soccer player Tracey Lewis, Australian Paralympic swimmer Tracey Lindberg, Canadian writer, scholar, lawyer, and Indigenous Rights activist Tracey MacLeod (born 1960), English journalist and broadcaster Tracey Magee (born 1969), Irish journalist and broadcaster Tracey Martin (born 1964), New Zealand politician Tracey McClure, American journalist Tracey McDermott, British businesswoman Tracey McFarlane (born 1966), Canadian-American swimmer Tracey McIntosh, New Zealand sociologist, criminologist, and academic Tracey McLauchlan (born 1979), New Zealand table tennis player Tracey McLellan (born 1970), New Zealand politician Tracey Meares, American legal scholar and author Tracey Medeiros, American chef and cookbook author Tracey Melesko, Canadian Paralympic sprint and long jumper Tracey Menzies, Australian swimming coach Tracey Miller (1954–2005), American radio personality, editorial writer, and newspaper editor Tracey Moberly (born 1964), Welsh artist, author, and radio show host Tracey Moffatt (born 1960), Australian artist Tracey Moore (born 1960), Canadian voice actress and voice director Tracey Morris (born 1967), British long-distance runner Tracey Morton-Rodgers (born 1967), Australian tennis player Tracey Mosley (born 1973), Australian softball player Tracey Needham (born 1967), American actress Tracey Neuls, Canadian shoe designer Tracey Neville (born 1977), English netball player and coach Tracey Nicolaas (born 1987), Aruban model and Miss Universe participant Tracey Norman (born 1952), American model Tracey O'Connor (born 1982), New Zealand tennis player Tracey Oliver (born 1975), Australian Paralympic swimmer Tracey Panek, New Zealand Māori historian and archivist Tracey Pemberton (born 1981), Australian netball player Tracey Perry, Canadian politician Tracey Pettengill Turner (born c. 1971), American serial social entrepreneur Tracey Poirier, American National Guard colonel Tracey Porter, American children's author Tracey Ramsey (born 1971), Canadian politician Tracey Reynolds (born 1970s), British sociologist and professor Tracey Richardson (born 1982), British diver Tracey Roberts (1914/1915–2002), American actress and acting coach Tracey Roberts, English-American politician Tracey Rogers, Australian marine ecologist