Theordore
A masculine name of Greek origin meaning "gift of God".
Name Census estimates that about 232 living Americans carry the first name Theordore. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Theordore today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Theordore births was 1920 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Theordore. 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
232
~ 1 in 1,477,389 Americans
Peak year
1920
13 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
2023 SSA rank
#13,970
Tracked since 1913
Popularity
Theordore: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Theordore from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 73 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Theordore 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 Theordore 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 Theordore
The name Theodore has its origins in the Greek language, deriving from the words "theos," meaning "god," and "doron," meaning "gift." The combination of these two words results in the meaning "gift of God" or "God's gift." The name can be traced back to ancient Greece, where it was commonly used during the classical period.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Theodore can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who lived in the 5th century BCE. He mentioned a famous Athenian statesman and military leader named Theodore, who played a significant role during the Greco-Persian Wars.
The name gained further prominence in the Christian tradition, as it was borne by several early Christian saints and martyrs. One of the most notable was Saint Theodore of Amasea, a Roman soldier who was martyred in the 4th century CE for refusing to renounce his Christian faith.
In the Byzantine Empire, the name Theodore was widely used among the nobility and ruling classes. Several Byzantine emperors bore the name, including Theodore I Lascaris (1174-1222), who ruled as Emperor of Nicaea during the period of the Latin Empire.
During the Middle Ages, the name Theodore remained popular across Europe, particularly in Eastern Orthodox and Catholic regions. One famous bearer of the name was Theodore of Tarsus (602-690), an Archbishop of Canterbury who played a significant role in the development of the English church.
Other notable historical figures named Theodore include:
1. Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), the 26th President of the United States, known for his progressive policies and conservation efforts.
2. Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945), an American novelist and journalist, best known for his novels "Sister Carrie" and "An American Tragedy."
3. Theodore Gericault (1791-1824), a French Romantic painter famous for his masterpiece "The Raft of the Medusa."
4. Theodore Roethke (1908-1963), an American poet and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1954.
5. Theodore von Karman (1881-1963), a Hungarian-American mathematician and aerospace engineer, renowned for his contributions to aerodynamics and astronautics.
While the name Theodore has its roots in ancient Greece, it has been widely adopted across various cultures and languages, often retaining its core meaning of "gift of God" or a variation thereof.
People
Theordore + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Theordore 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
Theordore: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Theordore?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 232 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Theordore 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 1,477,389 US residents.
Is Theordore a common name?
We classify Theordore as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 412 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Theordore most popular?
The single biggest year for Theordore was 1920, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Theordore is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Theordore a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Theordore 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.
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.