Thadius
A masculine name of uncertain origin, possibly from a Latin root meaning "gift of God".
Name Census estimates that about 476 living Americans carry the first name Thadius. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Thadius today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Thadius births was 1974 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Thadius. 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
476
~ 1 in 720,072 Americans
Peak year
1974
19 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,760
Tracked since 1922
Census
Thadius in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 477 people with the first name Thadius, which placed it at #21,336 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
#21,336
National first-name rank
People counted
477
477 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
53.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Thadius
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thadius is White at 53.5%. The next largest groups are Black (32.7%) and Hispanic (5.9%). 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 Thadius 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 Thadius at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.5% · 255
- Black or African American32.7% · 156
- Hispanic or Latino5.9% · 28
- Two or more races5.5% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 3
Popularity
Thadius: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Thadius from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 118 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
Thadius 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 Thadius 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 Thadius
The name Thadius is a variant of the Greek name Thaddaeus, which itself is derived from the Aramaic name Taddai. The earliest known origins of the name can be traced back to ancient Judea and the Middle East, where it was used by Aramaic and Hebrew communities in the region.
Thadius is believed to be a shortened form of the name Thaddaeus, which is mentioned in the New Testament of the Bible as one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. According to biblical accounts, Thaddaeus was also known as Jude, and he is traditionally regarded as the author of the Epistle of Jude.
In the early centuries of Christianity, the name Thadius and its variants gained popularity among Christian communities, particularly in regions influenced by Greek and Roman cultures. It was often associated with the apostle Thaddaeus and his missionary work in spreading the Christian faith.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Thadius can be found in the writings of the early Christian theologian and philosopher Origen, who lived in the 3rd century AD. Origen made references to a Christian martyr named Thadius who was persecuted for his faith during the reign of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Thadius or its variants. One prominent example is Saint Thadius, a 4th-century bishop of Milan, who is venerated as a martyr in the Catholic Church. Another significant figure is Thadius of Antioch, a 5th-century Christian scholar and theologian who played a crucial role in the Council of Chalcedon.
In the Middle Ages, the name Thadius was particularly popular among monastic orders and religious communities. One notable bearer of the name was Thadius of Novalesa, an Italian Benedictine monk and abbot who lived in the 11th century and was renowned for his piety and leadership.
During the Renaissance period, the name Thadius gained some prominence in certain parts of Europe. One notable figure was Thadius Visconti, an Italian nobleman and military leader from the 15th century, who played a significant role in the conflicts between Milan and Venice.
Another historical figure associated with the name Thadius was Thadius Berchet, a French poet and writer who lived in the 18th century and was known for his works that explored themes of nature and spirituality.
People
Thadius + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Thadius 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
Thadius: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thadius?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 476 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Thadius 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 720,072 US residents.
Is Thadius a common name?
We classify Thadius as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 511 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Thadius most popular?
The single biggest year for Thadius was 1974, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Thadius is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Thadius in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 477 people with the name Thadius, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,336 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 Thadius 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 Thadius?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Thadius appears almost entirely male. Of the 472 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Thadius?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thadius is White at 53.5%. The next largest groups are Black (32.7%) and Hispanic (5.9%). 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 Thadius most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Thadius in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.5% (255 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 Thadius in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Thadius a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Thadius 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 Thadius still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Thadius 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 Thadius 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 are called Thadius?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.