Tad
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Meaning
a standalone form of Thaddeus, from Aramaic Thaddai, likely large-hearted or courageous; also a nickname for Theodore
How popular is Tad around the world?
In the United States, 70 babies were named Tad between 2020 and 2025.
Tad is on the official records of the United States.
United States
1 in 310,000
In the United States, 70 babies were named Tad between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Tad peaked in the 1960s and the 1970s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
last on record 1997
Tad is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, England and Wales, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Tad
Most people given the name Tad in the United States were born between 1960 and 1989. The Tad you meet today is most often in his 40s or 50s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Tad deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Tad truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Tad fits with your family’s names and surname.
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