Thys
A variant spelling of Thijs, a Dutch masculine name derived from Theophilus meaning "friend of God".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Thys. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Thys today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Thys births was 2015 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Thys. 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 Thys. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2015
5 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2015 SSA rank
#13,844
Tracked since 2015
Popularity
Thys: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Thys 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 Thys during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Thys
The given name Thys has its origins in the Dutch language. It is a short form of the masculine name Thysbert or Thjisbert, which is derived from the Germanic elements "thiud" meaning "people" and "berht" meaning "bright" or "illustrious". The name Thys can be traced back to the medieval period in the Netherlands and surrounding regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Thys can be found in the 13th century chronicles of the Dutch town of Dordrecht. In these historical records, a man named Thys van Heynsbroec is mentioned as a prominent citizen and landowner in the year 1275.
During the Renaissance period, the name Thys gained some prominence in the literary world. A Dutch poet and playwright named Thys Reyniersz (1535-1605) was known for his satirical works and plays that criticized the social and political issues of his time.
In the 17th century, a renowned Dutch cartographer and explorer named Thys Claeszoon (1590-1653) sailed to the islands of the Pacific Ocean and made significant contributions to the mapping of the region.
Another notable figure in history with the name Thys was Thys Ryk (1650-1721), a Dutch Golden Age painter known for his landscape and genre paintings.
Moving forward to the 18th century, Thys van der Haer (1720-1792) was a prominent Dutch architect and urban planner who designed several buildings and urban developments in the cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
These are just a few examples of historical figures who bore the given name Thys, which has its roots in the Dutch language and culture, with its earliest recorded instances dating back to the medieval period.
People
Thys + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Thys 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
Thys: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thys?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Thys 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Thys a common name?
We classify Thys as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Thys most popular?
The single biggest year for Thys was 2015, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Thys is about 11 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 Thys in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Thys a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Thys 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 Thys still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Thys 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 Thys 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 share the name Thys?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.