Theodore
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The story
Theodore was used in classical Greece before it became a Christian saint’s name. Greek Theodoros combines words for “god” and “gift,” giving the familiar meaning “gift of God.” Its later Christian history includes a soldier saint, Theodore of Amasea, the monk Theodore the Studite in the Byzantine world, an archbishop and two popes.
The archbishop, Theodore of Tarsus, arrived in England in 669 to lead the church at Canterbury. He was a Greek-speaking scholar. Hadrian, an African scholar who spoke Latin and led a monastery, joined him the following year. They established a school where students learned Greek and Latin, bringing their Mediterranean learning to medieval England. English Theodore, Spanish and Portuguese Teodoro, and Russian Fyodor are all forms within the same name family. A medieval Ukrainian record includes the form Fedor.
Teddy, an English short form, later entered the toy cupboard through Theodore Roosevelt. A newspaper cartoon in 1902 showed the president refusing to shoot a restrained bear. New York shopkeepers Morris and Rose Michtom sold stuffed bears carrying his nickname. The real hunt had a sadder ending than the toy suggests: the injured animal was killed, rather than released. Richard Steiff developed a toy bear in Germany at roughly the same time.
How popular is Theodore around the world?
In the United States, 65,647 babies were named Theodore between 2020 and 2025. In England and Wales, 2,638 boys named Theodore were born in 2025, the 9th most common name among boys that year.
Theodore is on the official records of the United States, England and Wales, Canada, New Zealand, New South Wales, South Australia, Scotland, Ireland, Austria, Poland, France, Mexico City, Argentina, Spain and Brazil.
United States
1 in 330
In the United States, 65,647 babies were named Theodore between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Theodore peaked in the 2020s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
England and Wales
1 in 220
In England and Wales, 2,638 boys named Theodore were born in 2025, the 9th most common name among boys 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
Canada
1 in 260
In Canada, 1,429 boys named Theodore were born in 2024, the 3rd most common name among boys 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)
New Zealand
1 in 330
In New Zealand, 173 boys named Theodore were registered in 2025.
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
New South Wales
#3 · 2025
In New South Wales, 440 boys named Theodore were registered in 2025, ranked 3rd in that year’s top 100 for boys.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
South Australia
1 in 4102017
In South Australia, 45 boys were registered as Theodore in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
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
Scotland
1 in 420
In Scotland, 108 boys named Theodore were registered in 2024, the 36th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
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 470
In Ireland, 115 boys named Theodore were born in 2025, the 44th most common name among boys 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
Austria
1 in 6,900
In Austria, 11 boys named Theodore were born in 2025, the 436th most common name among boys 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)
Poland
1 in 12,000
In Poland, 21 boys named Theodore were born in 2025, the 249th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. This registry counts each spelling separately; the figures above are for the exact spelling Theodore, and accented spellings are separate names. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
France
1 in 26,000
In France, about 25 boys named Theodore were born in 2025, ranked 1,340th among boys 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 Theodore, and accented spellings are separate names. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Mexico City City
1 in 120,000
In Mexico City, there was 1 registration of Theodore in 2022.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Argentina
1 in 330,000
In Argentina, 2 newborns were given the name Theodore in 2024.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Spain
1 in 590,000
In Spain, 76 residents are named Theodore, ranked 10,294th among men, with a mean age of 20.3 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
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 95 people in Brazil were named Theodore, ranked 42,809th, with a median age of 5.
The census also counted 43 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
Montevideo City
last on record 1954
Theodore 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
Not on the record in Puerto Rico: that registry withholds small counts, so rare uses may sit below its floor.
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 Theodore
People given the name Theodore in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1960 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
Names like Theodore · Names that go with Theodore · Nicknames for Theodore · Middle names for Theodore · Greek baby names
The Theodore deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Theodore 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 Theodore fits with your family’s names and surname.
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