Thy
An antiquated English rendition of the pronoun "thine" or "your".
Name Census estimates that about 354 living Americans carry the first name Thy. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Thy today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Thy births was 1991 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Thy. 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
354
~ 1 in 968,233 Americans
Peak year
1991
18 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2018 SSA rank
#17,913
Tracked since 1979
Popularity
Thy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Thy from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 106 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Thy remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Thy 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 Thy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Thys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Thy
The name Thy has its origins in the Old Norse language, which was spoken by the Germanic peoples of Scandinavia during the Viking Age, around the 8th to 11th centuries AD. It is believed to be derived from the Old Norse word "þýr," which means "divine being" or "god."
The name Thy was primarily used in the Norse mythology and ancient Germanic folklore, where it referred to one of the gods in the Norse pantheon. In the Poetic Edda, an ancient collection of Norse poems, the god Tyr (also spelled Tiw or Tiu) was often referred to as "Thy." He was the god of war, justice, and heroic glory, and was highly revered among the Norse people.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Thy is found in the Icelandic Landnámabók, a medieval manuscript that documented the settlement of Iceland by the Norse people in the 9th and 10th centuries. The book mentions several individuals with the name Thy, suggesting that it was a relatively common name during that time period.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Thy. One of the most famous was Thy Oddsson (1070–1121), an Icelandic chieftain and lawspeaker who played a significant role in the Sturlung Era, a period of civil strife in Iceland during the 12th and 13th centuries.
Another notable figure was Thy Thorvaldsson (1145–1205), an Icelandic poet and skald who wrote several poems praising Icelandic chieftains and Norwegian kings. His works were preserved in the Poetic Edda and other medieval manuscripts.
In the 13th century, there was Thy Arnason (1225–1290), a Norwegian nobleman and landowner who was involved in the Norwegian civil wars of the time. He was a supporter of King Hákon IV Hákonarson and played a crucial role in the battles against the rebel forces.
Moving into the 14th century, we have Thy Sigurdsson (1310–1375), a Swedish clergyman and Bishop of Skara, who was known for his efforts in promoting education and establishing schools in his diocese.
Finally, in the 15th century, there was Thy Eiriksson (1445–1510), an Icelandic farmer and chieftain who was one of the most powerful landowners in the country during his time. He was also a member of the Althing, the Icelandic parliament, and played a significant role in shaping the island's political landscape.
People
Thy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Thy 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
Thy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 354 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Thy 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 968,233 US residents.
Is Thy a common name?
We classify Thy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 366 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Thy most popular?
The single biggest year for Thy was 1991, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Thy is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Thy a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Thy 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.
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.