Tim
Meaning
honoring God
The story
Short, brisk, and friendly, Tim is Timothy pared down to essentials; the parent name is Greek, Timotheos, honoring God, borne by the young companion to whom Saint Paul addressed two letters of the New Testament. As a standalone name on American birth certificates, Tim had its great moment at midcentury, climbing from the 1930s and peaking in the 1960s, when casual short forms ruled the nursery. Soccer fans hear it and think of one night in 2014, when US goalkeeper Tim Howard made sixteen saves against Belgium, the most recorded in any World Cup match; the losing effort was so heroic that admirers briefly edited an online encyclopedia to list him as Secretary of Defense. Tim is far less common for newborns now than in its heyday, which flips its character: once the ordinary boy next door, it now sounds almost refreshingly plain, a trusty name with a goalkeeper's steadiness.
The formal names behind Tim
Tim is an established short form of this name.
Timothy · Greek origin · honoring God
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Tim peaked in the 1960s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
98 people · the #41,927 first name in Brazil · median age 40
Among people named Tim living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Tim
Most people given the name Tim in the United States were born between 1950 and 1969. The Tim you meet today is most often in his 50s or 60s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Tim deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Tim 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 Tim fits with your family’s names and surname.
Keep exploring
Does Tim fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Tim to your family’s tree →