# Where did the name 'Trey' come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 22, 2004, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-trey-come-from/256294 "2004-07-22T03:29:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-trey-come-from/256294/1 "2004-07-22T03:29:17Z")
I went to high school with several Treys. In addition, there must have been 20 guys named Chad, at least 10 named Corey, lots of Dustins (from Dustin Hoffman’s popularity, I think,) and a lot of Kyles. What do these names all have in common? You never see anyone older than 25 with any one of them! Where did these names even come from anyway? Trey? Was the mother hit over the head with a tray in the cafeteria while she was pregnant? What’s with that? ---
**Author:** ![Cherry2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cherry2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cherry2000)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-trey-come-from/256294/2 "2004-07-22T03:35:22Z")
Dunno what the origins of the name actually are, but my brother goes by “Trey”. It’s a reference to him being the third (as in Frank III). ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-trey-come-from/256294/3 "2004-07-22T03:36:38Z")
Yeah, all the Treys I know were/are "the third"s. Don’t know why Juniors are called “Duece,” but they aren’t . . . . ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-trey-come-from/256294/4 "2004-07-22T03:37:41Z")
That should read “why Juniors _aren’t_ calle Duece . . . .” ---
**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-trey-come-from/256294/5 "2004-07-22T03:38:35Z")
I have met a “Deuce” junior before: The son of my high school wrestling coach, who was himself an assistant coach, was named “Royce Deckard II,” and went by “Deuce Deckard.” ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-trey-come-from/256294/6 "2004-07-22T03:54:25Z")
> [@PaulFitzroy](#): > > What do these names all have in common? You never see anyone older than 25 with any one of them! Many of the guys named **Trey** died. While I’m sure it wasn’t on the top 100 list ever, it was a not totally uncommon name in the South during the last 100 years or more. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-trey-come-from/256294/7 "2004-07-22T03:59:51Z")
There are over 1300 guys named Dustin who have died in the last 50 years. [http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gsfn=dustin&gsln=&sx=&f9=&f8=&f10=&f6=&f5=&f7=&f1=&f15=&f14=&f13=&f12=&f20=&f0=&db=ssdi&ti=0&ti.si=0&gl=&gss=&gst=&submit.x=37&submit.y=12](http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gsfn=dustin&gsln=&sx=&f9=&f8=&f10=&f6=&f5=&f7=&f1=&f15=&f14=&f13=&f12=&f20=&f0=&db=ssdi&ti=0&ti.si=0&gl=&gss=&gst=&submit.x=37&submit.y=12) ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@RandomLetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetters)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-trey-come-from/256294/8 "2004-07-22T04:08:59Z")
20 year white male here, of southwestern Minnesoda extraction, with the name Trey. I asked my mother why she chose this name, and she just told me she thought it sounded good. Also, is it just me, or are most guys with the name Trey black? I went to middle & part of high school in Lousiana & Mississippi, and the only other people name Trey that I have met have been of African ancestory. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-trey-come-from/256294/9 "2004-07-22T04:35:31Z")
Here’s [a similar thread on the subject](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=207240) from a while back. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-trey-come-from/256294/10 "2004-07-22T04:44:13Z")
I think “Trey” is a once regional name that has since spread, although I have no specific data to that efect. The variant spelling T-R-E is definitely black. ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-trey-come-from/256294/11 "2004-07-22T06:18:30Z")
Another reason: I know a guy named Tracey. Trey is his name of choice. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-trey-come-from/256294/12 "2004-07-22T06:22:10Z")
I was a grown woman in the late 1960’s or early 1970’s when I first heard the name “Trey” used for a male. Again, he was “the III.” ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-trey-come-from/256294/13 "2004-07-22T11:30:15Z")
I knew a guy who called himself “Third”. I guess his parents didn’t like “Trey”. He was a III. My Uncle, JFD, Jr., is called “Junie” ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-trey-come-from/256294/14 "2004-07-22T11:37:22Z")
Somehow Thurston Howell III sounds a little more ritzy than Trey Howell. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-trey-come-from/256294/15 "2004-07-22T14:36:59Z")
My brother is a III. But he had the misfortune of the nickname “Trips” instead of “Trey”, after a card game. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-trey-come-from/256294/16 "2004-07-22T14:55:24Z")
I don’t know how old Trey Gunn (formerly of King Crimson) is, but he’s **way** past 25. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-trey-come-from/256294/17 "2004-07-22T19:38:08Z")
> [@PaulFitzroy](#): > > … there must have been 20 guys named Chad > … > Where did these names even come from anyway? Chad is an ancient Anglo-Saxon name. The most famous Chad was [St. Chad of Mercia](http://www.saintchads.org.uk/stchad.htm), first Bishop of Lichfield. His brother was named Cedd. As to why the Chads you know are young - well, there’s trends in names, just like anything else. Maybe your area is going through a Chad-trend, much as parts of Florida did in the late fall of 2000. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-trey-come-from/256294/18 "2004-07-22T20:18:48Z")
> [@PaulFitzroy](#): > > I went to high school with several Treys. In addition, there must have been 20 guys named Chad, at least 10 named Corey, lots of Dustins (from Dustin Hoffman’s popularity, I think,) and a lot of Kyles. > > What do these names all have in common? You never see anyone older than 25 with any one of them! Nah … that’s just selective memory and coincidences. Those names were all accounted-for in my school days (especially popular were Chad and Trey), and my cohort is collectively entering its mid-30s. My school days were spent in the New Orleans area, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-trey-come-from/256294/19 "2004-07-22T20:30:24Z")
> [@PaulFitzroy](#): > > 20 guys named Chad I always thought Chad was a nickname for Charles, not that there seem to be many Charleses today. Were the Chads you refer to really Chads, or were they Charleses? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-trey-come-from/256294/20 "2004-07-22T23:35:21Z")
> [@](#): > > I went to high school with several Treys. In addition, there must have been 20 guys named Chad, at least 10 named Corey, lots of Dustins (from Dustin Hoffman’s popularity, I think,) and a lot of Kyles. I swear to Og, I tried to be original! In 1993, I named my son after the actor Kyle McLaughlin, my once favorite odd-actor. Every single person I told his name to exclamed, “My, what an odd name! Wherever did you come up with that?” Fast-forward 11ish years. He’s one of 4 Kyles in his class. :smack: So, I have to defend some of those moms out there who didn’t pick the name because it was popular, but instead made it popular somehow. I swear there was just something in the water that year. Or 1920’s style name-rays which hit us gestating ones with the same thought all at once. :rolleyes: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-the-name-trey-come-from/256294.md?page=2)