Find out how popular the last name Theodore is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Theodore.

Theodore, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Theodore surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Theodore in America

Theodore is the 7247th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Theodore surname appeared 4,601 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Theodore.

We can also compare 2010 data for Theodore to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Theodore

The surname Theodore originated from the Greek name Theodoros, which is composed of the elements "theos" meaning God and "doron" meaning gift. The name was commonly used in ancient Greece and later in the Byzantine Empire. In its earliest forms, it was written as Θεοδωρος in Greek script.

During the medieval period, the name spread across Europe through the influence of the Byzantine Empire and the Eastern Orthodox Church. It was adopted by various ethnic groups, leading to variations in spelling such as Theodor, Teodor, and Fedor.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Theodore as a surname can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which documented landowners in England after the Norman Conquest. The entry "Teodric" appears, likely referring to an individual with a similar variation of the name.

In the 12th century, a notable bearer of the name was Theodore of Tarsus, an influential Archbishop of Canterbury from 668 to 690 AD. He played a crucial role in establishing the primacy of the See of Canterbury within the English Church.

Another prominent figure was Theodore the Studite, a Byzantine monk and theologian who lived from 759 to 826 AD. He was a staunch defender of the veneration of icons and is revered as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

During the Renaissance, Theodore de Bry (1528-1598) was a renowned Flemish engraver and publisher known for his detailed illustrations of the Americas and their indigenous peoples.

In the 19th century, Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) was the 26th President of the United States and a prominent political figure known for his conservation efforts and the Square Deal domestic program.

Another notable bearer was Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945), an American novelist and journalist who is considered one of the leading figures in the literary movement of naturalism with works such as "Sister Carrie" and "An American Tragedy."

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Theodore

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Theodore.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Theodore was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Theodore has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Theodore was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Theodore, please contact us.

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