Theda
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "gift of God".
Name Census estimates that about 1,431 living Americans carry the first name Theda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Theda today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Theda births was 1919 (356 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Theda. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Theda is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Thedas were born before 1966.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 239,521 Americans
Peak year
1919
356 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
2021 SSA rank
#17,444
Tracked since 1880
Census
Theda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,031 people with the first name Theda, which placed it at #7,498 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
#7,498
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
2,031 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Theda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Theda is White at 78.7%. The next largest groups are Black (12.9%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Theda 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 Theda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.7% · 1,598
- Black or African American12.9% · 262
- Two or more races3.1% · 62
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.6% · 53
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 31
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 25
Popularity
Theda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Theda from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,981 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Theda 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 Theda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Thedas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 36 states and territories. Texas, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Theda, while South Carolina, Oregon, Montana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 98 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Theda
The name Theda is a feminine given name of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word "theodoros," which means "gift of God." It was first recorded in ancient Greek literature and texts from the classical period.
The earliest known bearer of the name Theda was a Greek woman who lived in the 5th century BC, mentioned in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus. The name gained popularity in the Byzantine era, particularly among Christians who associated it with the divine.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Theda was a Christian martyr from the 3rd century AD. Saint Theda was a young woman who was executed for her faith during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Diocletian.
In the Middle Ages, the name Theda was relatively uncommon but was still used in some parts of Europe, particularly in regions with Greek cultural influences, such as Italy and parts of the Balkans.
One of the most famous bearers of the name Theda in modern times was Theda Bara, an American silent film actress who was born Theodosia Burr Goodman in 1885 and died in 1955. She was a prominent figure in early Hollywood and is considered one of the first actresses to be promoted as a sex symbol.
Another notable Theda was Theda Skocpol, an American sociologist and political scientist born in 1947. She is known for her work on social revolutions and her contributions to the field of comparative historical analysis.
In the 20th century, the name Theda also gained some popularity in Germany and other parts of Europe, likely due to the influence of Greek culture and mythology. One example is Theda Helene Bara, a German actress born in 1940 who appeared in several films and television shows.
Overall, while not a very common name in modern times, Theda has a rich history and cultural significance, particularly in its connections to ancient Greek heritage and Christianity.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Theda
People
Theda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Theda 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
Theda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Theda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,431 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Theda 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 239,521 US residents.
Is Theda a common name?
We classify Theda as "Rare". It ranks above 92.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,556 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Theda most popular?
The single biggest year for Theda was 1919, when 356 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Theda is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Theda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,031 people with the name Theda, or 0.67 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,498 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 Theda 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 Theda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Theda appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,031 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Theda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Theda is White at 78.7%. The next largest groups are Black (12.9%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Theda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Theda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.7% (1,598 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 Theda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Theda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Theda in the SSA data are female. 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 Theda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Theda 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 Theda 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 common is the name Theda?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.