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Boy · Ancient Greek
Theodore
Say it: THEE-uh-dor
Meaning
Greek Theodōros, 'gift of God' (theos 'god' and dōron 'gift').
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Common in the Orthodox world (Fyodor) and popular again in English in the 2010s.
Its wave through time
A revival, back after decades away
In the United States
- 261,033 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 2020, about 1 in 199 boys
- 8,570 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- Ancient Greece800 BC to 146 BC
- The Early Middle Ages400 to 800
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
Early ChristianGreekEnglishAmericanFrenchSpanishItalianPortugueseGermanPolishRussianAncient Greek
The family of the name
Other spellings: Theodor
| French | Théodore |
|---|---|
| Spanish | Teodoro |
| Italian | Teodoro |
| Portuguese | Teodoro |
| German | Theodor |
| Polish | Teodor |
| Russian | Fyodor |
| Greek | Theodoros |
Famous bearers
- Theodore of Tarsus, 7th-century archbishop of Canterbury
- Theodore Roosevelt, US president
- Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian novelist
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Lives of the saints and early Christian martyrologies
- Calendars of saints and name days
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- Royal and noble genealogies
- National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.