Timon
Greek name meaning "he who honors" or "honorer".
Name Census estimates that about 463 living Americans carry the first name Timon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Timon today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Timon births was 1995 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Timon. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Timon with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
463
~ 1 in 740,290 Americans
Peak year
1995
19 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,745
Tracked since 1947
Census
Timon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 538 people with the first name Timon, which placed it at #19,583 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
#19,583
National first-name rank
People counted
538
538 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
45.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Timon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Timon is White at 45.9%. The next largest groups are Black (35.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.9%). 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 Timon 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 Timon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White45.9% · 247
- Black or African American35.3% · 190
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.9% · 53
- Two or more races4.3% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 3
Popularity
Timon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Timon from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 118 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Timon 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 Timon 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 Timon
The given name Timon has its origins in the Greek language, deriving from the word "timē" which means "honor" or "esteem." It gained popularity during ancient times in Greece and surrounding regions influenced by Greek culture.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Timon can be found in Plato's philosophical dialogues, where a character named Timon the Misanthrope is portrayed as a wealthy Athenian who grew disillusioned with human nature and became a recluse. This literary reference dates back to the 4th century BC.
In the Bible's New Testament, a disciple named Timon is mentioned in the Book of Acts as one of the Seven Deacons appointed to assist the Apostles in the early Christian church. This occurrence of the name is from the 1st century AD.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Timon. One example is Timon of Phlius, a philosopher and poet who lived in the 3rd century BC and wrote satirical works criticizing the moral failings of his contemporaries.
Another prominent figure was Timon of Athens, a wealthy Athenian citizen from the 5th century BC whose life story inspired William Shakespeare's play "Timon of Athens," which explores themes of generosity, ingratitude, and misanthropy.
In the 16th century, Timon Stubbes (1543-1610) was an English Puritan pamphleteer known for his work "The Anatomie of Abuses," which criticized various social and moral issues of his time.
More recently, Timon Samuelson (1929-2019) was a Norwegian politician and trade unionist who served as the leader of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions from 1983 to 1992.
Timon Balloo (born 1982) is a contemporary French-Mauritian chef who has gained recognition for his innovative culinary creations and commitment to sustainable practices.
The name Timon, with its roots in ancient Greek language and culture, has been carried through the ages by individuals from various walks of life, including philosophers, religious figures, writers, politicians, and culinary artists. Its enduring presence reflects the historical and cultural significance attached to the concept of honor and esteem.
People
Timon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Timon 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
Timon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Timon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 463 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Timon 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 740,290 US residents.
Is Timon a common name?
We classify Timon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 482 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Timon most popular?
The single biggest year for Timon was 1995, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Timon is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Timon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 538 people with the name Timon, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,583 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 Timon 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 Timon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Timon leans strongly male. 518 people counted with this name were male (97.0%), compared with 16 female bearers (3.0%). 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 Timon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Timon is White at 45.9%. The next largest groups are Black (35.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.9%). 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 Timon most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Timon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.9% (247 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 Timon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Timon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Timon 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 Timon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Timon 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 Timon 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 many people share the name Timon?
Want to know how many people share the name Timon? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.