ninan.org

Theodore

Boys' name · Current revival perennial

Living in the US
~205,800 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#4 among boys
Births in 2025
13,362 318,175 since 1880
Typical age
14 years, median

Theodore popularity over time

Theodore rank by birth year, 1880–2025Theodore ranked #70 in 1880 and #4 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #4, in 2024.#10#100#418901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

More children were named Theodore in 2025 than in any other year — 13,362 of them. The name is already in use in 1880, where the data begins. Theodore has spent 80 years inside the national top 100.

In 2025 it ranked #4 with 13,362 births. Compared with 2015, births are up 3.2×.

Babies named Theodore per yearPeaks at 13,362 births in 2025.13,362 in 2025018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Theodore?

About 205,800 people named Theodore are alive in the United States today. That is out of 318,175 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Theodore?

Half of living Theodores are older than 14, half younger. Most living bearers were born in the 2020s. By the site’s era rules that makes Theodore a current revival perennial name.

Your Theodore

Ages of living people named TheodoreHalf of living Theodores are older than 14 and half younger.median 14020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Theodore is most common

Theodore is 3.9× as common in Vermont as it is nationally. New Hampshire, District of Columbia and Maine follow.

Where Theodore is used more than average5 states use the name Theodore more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: 2.8× the national rateMEVermont: 3.9× the national rateVTNew Hampshire: 3.1× the national rateNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: 2.7× the national rateWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: 3.0× the national rateDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Theodore is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Vermont 247 3.9×
New Hampshire 670 3.1×
District of Columbia 508 3.0×
Maine 550 2.8×
Wyoming 161 2.7×

Theodore in England and Wales

ONS recorded 2,638 births named Theodore in 2025, ranking it #9.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Theodore comes from

The name was popularized in reference to the prominent St Theodore of Amasea. Unrelated to Theodoric.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Theodore

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Theodore Roosevelt 26th President of the United States from 1901 to 1909 1858–1919 192
Theodore Dreiser American novelist and journalist 1871–1945 77
Theodore William Richards United States chemist 1868–1928 63
Theodore Schultz American economist 1902–1998 60
Theodore von Kármán Hungarian-American mathematician, aerospace engineer and physicist 1881–1963 50
Theodore Sturgeon American speculative fiction writer 1918–1985 42
Theodore Maiman American physicist/Inventor of first working laser 1927–2007 35
Theodore Gill American biologist 1837–1914 33
Photo credits (7)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 763 in 1911 to 1,569 in 1912 — 2.1 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/theodore.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).