Thadd
A masculine name derived from the ancient Greek name Thaddaeus, meaning "heart" or "courageous".
Name Census estimates that about 132 living Americans carry the first name Thadd. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Thadd today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Thadd births was 1971 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Thadd. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
132
~ 1 in 2,596,624 Americans
Peak year
1971
13 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
2004 SSA rank
#13,038
Tracked since 1962
Census
Thadd in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 223 people with the first name Thadd, which placed it at #35,856 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#35,856
National first-name rank
People counted
223
223 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Thadd
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thadd is White at 82.1%. The next largest groups are Black (7.6%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Thadd described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Thadd at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.1% · 183
- Black or African American7.6% · 17
- Two or more races4.5% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 3
Popularity
Thadd: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Thadd from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 71 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Thadd by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Thadd during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Thadd
The given name Thadd is a variant spelling of the Greek name Thaddaeus, which is derived from the Aramaic name Taddai. The origins of the name can be traced back to ancient Mesopotamia and the Middle East, where it was a masculine name in use several centuries before the Common Era.
The name Thaddaeus is mentioned in the New Testament of the Bible as one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. He is often referred to as Jude Thaddaeus or Judas Thaddaeus to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot. The name Thaddaeus is thought to mean "praised" or "the praised one" in Aramaic.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Thadd was Thaddaeus of Edessa, a Syrian-born Christian missionary who lived in the 1st century AD. He is venerated as a saint in several Christian traditions and is believed to have brought Christianity to Mesopotamia and parts of modern-day Iraq and Iran.
In the Middle Ages, the name Thadd and its variants were relatively uncommon but were occasionally used in various European regions. One notable figure from this period was Thaddaeus Kosciuszko, a Polish national hero and military leader who played a crucial role in the American Revolutionary War and the Polish Uprisings of the late 18th century. He was born in 1746 and died in 1817.
Another historical figure with the name Thadd was Thaddeus Stevens, an American lawyer, politician, and abolitionist who served in the United States House of Representatives during the American Civil War era. He was a prominent figure in the Radical Republican movement and played a significant role in the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. Thaddeus Stevens was born in 1792 and died in 1868.
In more recent times, notable individuals with the name Thadd include Thadd Buttry, an American baseball player who played in the Major League Baseball in the 1920s and 1930s; Thadd Evan Clark, an American actor and film producer known for his roles in various television series and movies; and Thadd Stills, an American football player who played as a defensive back in the National Football League in the 2000s.
Overall, the name Thadd has a rich historical background, with its origins rooted in ancient Middle Eastern cultures and its association with early Christian figures and events. While not as common as some other names, it has been carried by notable individuals throughout history, from military leaders and politicians to athletes and entertainers.
People
Thadd + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Thadd as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Thadd: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thadd?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 132 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Thadd going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,596,624 US residents.
Is Thadd a common name?
We classify Thadd as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 145 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Thadd most popular?
The single biggest year for Thadd was 1971, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Thadd is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Thadd in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 223 people with the name Thadd, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,856 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Thadd in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Thadd?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Thadd appears almost entirely male. Of the 219 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Thadd?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thadd is White at 82.1%. The next largest groups are Black (7.6%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Thadd most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Thadd in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.1% (183 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Thadd in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Thadd a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Thadd in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Thadd still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Thadd in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Thadd can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Thadd?
Want to know how many Americans are named Thadd? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.