Theodoric
Germanic name meaning "ruler of the people" or "leader of the people".
Name Census estimates that about 56 living Americans carry the first name Theodoric. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Theodoric today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Theodoric births was 1969 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Theodoric. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Theodoric. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
56
~ 1 in 6,120,613 Americans
Peak year
1969
8 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,989
Tracked since 1969
Popularity
Theodoric: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Theodoric from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 29 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Theodoric remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Theodoric 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 Theodoric 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 Theodoric
The given name Theodoric has its origins in the Germanic languages and can be traced back to the 5th century AD. It is derived from the Old Germanic words "theud" meaning "people" and "ric" meaning "ruler" or "king", effectively translating to "ruler of the people". The name was popular among the Gothic tribes of the time.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Theodoric appears in the writings of the Roman historian Cassiodorus, who mentions a Gothic king named Theodoric the Great, also known as Theodoric the Amal (454-526 AD). He was the king of the Ostrogoths and ruled a large part of Italy and the Balkans.
Another notable figure bearing this name was Theodoric I (452-533 AD), a Merovingian king who ruled over the Ripuarian Franks in what is now modern-day Germany and Belgium. He is considered one of the earliest kings of the Frankish dynasty.
In the 8th century, Theodoric IV (711-737 AD) was the king of the Franks from the Merovingian dynasty. He ruled over the region of Austrasia, which covered parts of modern-day France, Germany, and the Low Countries.
During the Middle Ages, Theodoric was a popular name among the nobility and ruling classes of various Germanic tribes and kingdoms. One such figure was Theodoric the Great (454-526 AD), who ruled the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy and is considered one of the most significant figures of the Migration Period.
Another notable bearer of the name was Theodoric II (612-687 AD), a Merovingian king of Burgundy and Austrasia. He played a significant role in the power struggles between the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties during the 7th century.
These are just a few examples of prominent historical figures who bore the name Theodoric, which has its roots in the early Germanic languages and was widely used among the ruling classes of various Germanic tribes and kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages.
People
Theodoric + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Theodoric 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
Theodoric: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Theodoric?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 56 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Theodoric 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 6,120,613 US residents.
Is Theodoric a common name?
We classify Theodoric as "Very Rare". It ranks above 56% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 60 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Theodoric most popular?
The single biggest year for Theodoric was 1969, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Theodoric is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Theodoric in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Theodoric a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Theodoric 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 Theodoric still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Theodoric 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 Theodoric 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Theodoric as a first name?
See how many people share the name Theodoric on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.