Ted

Diminutive of Theodore or Edward, Greek or English

"gift of god; rich guard"

Ted Origin and Meaning

The name Ted is a boy's name meaning "gift of god; rich guard".

Like Ed, Eddie and Teddy, Ted is rarely used as an independent name – in the US, at least. In the UK, Eddie ranks just outside the Top 200, Teddy ranks just outside the Top 30, and Ted is a Top 200 pick.

With Theodore rising, Ted may have new life among parents who don't want to use the short form Theo. And TV's Ted Lasso makes it a quintessential nice guy name.

Ted Rank in US Top 1000

# 956 in the US

Ted Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 800 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Ted

• 800 Nameberry 2025
• 246 England 2023
• 93 Ireland 2024
• 42 Netherlands 2024
• 21 Sweden 2024

20 Names Similar to Ted

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Ted.

• Pete
• Barney
• Marty
• Ernie
• Guy
• Abe
• Earl
• Freddy
• Willie
• Hamilton
• Reggie
• Norman
• Eddie
• Georgie
• Howie
• Marvin
• Gene
• Rutherford
• Stuart
• Randolph

Famous People Named Ted

• Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy U.S. Senator from Massachusetts
• Theodore "Ted" Roosevelt III U.S. politician and general; son of President Teddy Roosevelt
• Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath British Prme Minister
• Theodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent American rock musician
• Ted Knight (born Tadeusz Wladyslaw Konopka) American actor
• Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams American baseball player
• Edward James "Ted" Hughes English poet
• Edward Bridge "Ted" Danson III American actor
• Theodore Fulton "Ted" Stevens U.S. Senator from Alaska
• Theodore Tillman "Ted" Shackelford III American actor
• Ted Jensen American sound mastering engineer
• Ted "Kid" Lewis (born Gershon Mendeloff) British boxer
• Edward James Milton "Ted" Dwane bassist for English band Mumford & Sons
• Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz Canadian,American U.S. Senator from Texas
• Robert Edward "Ted" Turner American media mogul, founder of CNN
• Edward James Martin "Ted" Koppel British,American TV journalist
• Ted Mack (born William Edward Maguiness) American radio and TV host
• Ted Gowans Canadian guitarist of band Tegan & Sara
• Ted Fu American YouTube filmmaker of Wong Fu Productions
• Theodore "Ted" Bundy American serial killer

The name Ted in Pop Culture

• Ted Baxter character on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show;" played by Ted Knight
• Ted Tonate character from "Ace Attorney" game series
• Theodore Evelyn "Ted" Mosby character on TV's "How I Met Your Mother"
• Ted Chaough character on TV's "Mad Men"
• Ted Tonks character in "Harry Potter" series.
• Ted "Teddy" Lupin character from the Harry Potter series
• Ted smart,mouth teddy bear in 2012 movie of same name & the 2015 sequel "Ted 2"
• Tayler Mark "Ted" Beene character on TV series Oliver Beene
• Kasane Ted UTAU and brother of Kasane Teto
• Ted Theodore Logan character in movie "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure"
• Ted the Generic Guy, character from the comic strip Dilbert
• Ted gamekeeper of Lord Ralph Mayhew on British TV series The Fast Show
• "Ted " 2001 novel by Tony DiTerlizzi and its main character
• Ted Buckland character on TV's Scrubs
• Father Ted Crilly character on British TV series Father Ted
• Theodore Margaret "Ted" Crisp character on TV's Better Off Ted
• Ted Lawson character on TV's Small Wonder
• Ted Shaw character on TV's "Defying Gravity"
• Theodore "Ted" Schmidt character on TV's Queer as Folk
• Theodore "Ted" Sprague character on TV's Heroes
• Ted Talbot Sr., character on TV series Rectify
• Ted Shackleford aka "The Man With the Yellow Hat" a character in the Curious George series
• Ted Hope character in movie "White House Down"
• Ted Wilson reoccurring character on TV's "Pretty Little Liars"
• TED Talks (Technology Entertainment, Design), lecture series
• Ted Wiggins character in the 2012 movie "The Lorax"