How rare is the name Theodore?

141,175 people in the United States have the first name Theodore, about 1 in 2,139. It ranks #400 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

THEODORE

#400

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
141,175
About
1 in 2,139
This common or more
54.3%
Who bears it

Of the 141,175 people named Theodore, 76.6% reported their origin as White, 10.1% as Black and 5.4% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are male (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Theodore peaked in 2025, when 13,362 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2025
Births that year
13,362
In 2025*
13,362
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 318,175 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Theodore by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2020s, when it ranked #16. The largest share of babies named Theodore, 31.9%, were born in 2013 or later.

1880s#1942,176
1890s#2582,300
1900s#1386,519
1910s#15221,204
1920s#15431,469
1930s#18225,088
1940s#21726,317
1950s#26229,144
1960s#32921,389
1970s#37613,658
1980s#43212,046
1990s#56310,113
2000s#61010,556
2010s#16340,549
2020s#1665,647
Before 19011.5%
Greatest Generation 1901–2716.6%
Silent Generation 1928–4514.4%
Baby boom 1946–6416.4%
Generation X 1965–807.7%
Millennials 1981–965.7%
Generation Z 1997–125.7%
2013 and later31.9%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Theodore is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Theodore has been most common in District of Columbia (1.9×), New Hampshire (1.7×), and Connecticut (1.7×), and least common in Mississippi (0.45×).

304,583 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Theodore

#398 Cassandra · 141,760#399 Stacey · 141,480#401 Jenna · 140,773#402 Ruby · 140,132

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Theodore, most common first.

#3,097 Theodora · 7,119#8,706 Theodor · 1,653#14,618 Theadora · 803#14,661 Theadore · 800#23,187 Thedore · 424#27,750 Theodoro · 328#50,999 Theodre · 116#52,900 Thedora · 104

Also a last name

As a last name, Theodore ranks #7,320 of 156,621, with 4,389 people. See Theodore as a last name

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