Theodora
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The story
Theodora is Greek, gift of God, the feminine of Theodore, and its greatest bearer ran an empire: the sixth-century empress Theodora, Justinian's wife and by most accounts his sharpest adviser, who rose from the Constantinople stage to the Byzantine throne. In the US it kept a modest presence in the early twentieth century, went quiet through the middle decades, and is now climbing to its highest level yet, with the 2020s standing as its peak decade so far, pulled upward by the same vintage wave lifting Theodore. Thea is the elegant short form, Dora the vintage one, and Teddi the playful modern pick. An empress's name arriving at its American peak fifteen centuries after she wore it. Its present revival joins imperial weight to a remarkably flexible set of everyday forms.
How popular is Theodora around the world?
In the United States, 2,234 babies were named Theodora between 2020 and 2025. In England and Wales, 121 girls named Theodora were born in 2025, the 353rd most common name among girls that year.
Theodora is on the official records of the United States, England and Wales, Austria, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Brazil, France and Spain.
United States
1 in 9,800
In the United States, 2,234 babies were named Theodora between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Theodora peaked in the 2020s. In US birth records Theodora has stayed between 428 and 2,234 births in every decade since the 1950s: a name everyone knows and few children get.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
England and Wales
1 in 4,800
In England and Wales, 121 girls named Theodora were born in 2025, the 353rd most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Austria
1 in 5,100
In Austria, 15 girls named Theodora were born in 2025, the 346th most common name among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Scotland
1 in 6,500
In Scotland, 7 girls named Theodora were registered in 2024, the 431st most common name among girls that year.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Ireland
1 in 11,000
In Ireland, 5 girls named Theodora were born in 2025, the 608th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Canada
1 in 12,000
In Canada, 31 girls named Theodora were born in 2024, the 889th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Brazil
1 in 110,000
At the 2022 census, 1,790 people in Brazil were named Theodora, ranked 5,529th, with a median age of 6.
Among people named Theodora living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 576 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
France
1 in 130,000
In France, about 5 girls named Theodora were born in 2025, ranked 4,252nd among girls that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. This registry counts each spelling separately; the figures above are for the exact spelling Theodora, and accented spellings are separate names. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Spain
1 in 610,000
In Spain, 74 residents are named Theodora, ranked 9,987th among women, with a mean age of 40.8 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Montevideo City
last on record 1948
Theodora is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
New Zealand
last on record 2021
Theodora is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
South Australia
last on record 2016
Theodora is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 6 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 Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico 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 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 Theodora
People given the name Theodora in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1950 to 2025. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Nicknames for Theodora · Greek baby names · Familiar but never popular
The Theodora deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Theodora 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 Theodora fits with your family’s names and surname.
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