Timothy
A masculine name of Greek origin meaning "honoring God" or "honorer of God".
Name Census estimates that about 944,752 living Americans carry the first name Timothy. It sits at #208 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Timothy today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Timothy births was 1959 (30,863 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Timothy. 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 Timothy with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Timothy is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 4,326 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1960s, recent registration numbers for Timothy have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
945K
~ 1 in 363 Americans
Peak year
1959
30,863 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
2024 SSA rank
#208
Tracked since 1880
Census
Timothy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 802,955 people with the first name Timothy, which placed it at #38 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
#38
National first-name rank
People counted
803K
802,955 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
265.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Timothy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Timothy is White at 84.2%. The next largest groups are Black (7.7%) and Hispanic (2.9%). 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 Timothy 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 Timothy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.2% · 675,887
- Black or African American7.7% · 62,009
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 23,496
- Two or more races2.8% · 22,726
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 14,281
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 4,556
Gender
Gender distribution for Timothy
Out of the 1,086,730 babies given the name Timothy since 1880, 99.6% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Timothy as a male name
- Ranked #208 in 2024
- 1,708 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1959 (30,784 births)
Timothy as a female name
- Ranked #18,642 in 2016
- 5 female births in 2016
- Peak: 1981 (145 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Timothy appears almost entirely male. Of the 802,946 people counted with this name, 99.9% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Timothy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Timothy from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 277,887 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
Timothy 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 Timothy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Timothys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, New York, Ohio recorded the most babies named Timothy, while Wyoming, Alaska, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21,187 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Timothy
The name Timothy has its origins in the Greek language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is a compound word derived from the Greek elements "timao" meaning "to honor" and "theos" meaning "God." The name essentially translates to "one who honors God" or "revering God."
The earliest recorded use of the name Timothy can be found in the New Testament of the Bible. The name is mentioned in the Epistles written by the Apostle Paul, referring to one of his close companions and disciples, Timothy. This early Christian figure, born around 17 AD, played a significant role in the spread of Christianity and is recognized as a saint in various Christian traditions.
Another notable historical figure bearing the name Timothy was Timothy of Gaza, a Christian martyr who lived in the fourth century AD. He was a deacon who was tortured and executed during the Diocletian persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire.
In the 8th century, Timothy I served as the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the spiritual leader of the Eastern Orthodox Church, from 511 to 518 AD. He played a crucial role in resolving theological disputes and promoting the unity of the church.
During the Renaissance period, Timothy Bright (1551-1615) was an English physician and writer who made significant contributions to the field of medicine and published works on various subjects, including melancholy and the treatment of diseases.
In the 18th century, Timothy Dwight (1752-1817) was an American educator, theologian, and the president of Yale College (now Yale University). He played a pivotal role in shaping the educational and religious landscape of his time.
Moving forward in history, Timothy Leary (1920-1996) was an American psychologist and writer who gained notoriety as a counterculture figure and advocate for the exploration of psychedelic drugs in the 1960s.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Timothy throughout history, reflecting its rich cultural and religious heritage, as well as its enduring presence across various eras and societies.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Timothy
People
Timothy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Timothy 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
Timothy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Timothy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 944,752 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Timothy 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 363 US residents.
Is Timothy a common name?
We classify Timothy as "Very Common". It ranks above 100% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,086,730 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Timothy most popular?
The single biggest year for Timothy was 1959, when 30,863 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Timothy is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Timothy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 802,955 people with the name Timothy, or 265.85 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38 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 Timothy 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 Timothy?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Timothy appears almost entirely male. Of the 802,946 people counted with this name, 99.9% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Timothy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Timothy is White at 84.2%. The next largest groups are Black (7.7%) and Hispanic (2.9%). 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 Timothy most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Timothy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.2% (675,887 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 Timothy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Timothy a male name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Timothy 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 Timothy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Timothy 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 Timothy 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 have the name Timothy?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.