Theodore

THEE-uh-dawr (American); THEE-uh-daw (British)

Greek

"gift of God"

Theodore Origin and Meaning

The name Theodore is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "gift of God".

Classic and elegant but with boyish charm, Theodore has become hit name in recent years, vaulting into the US Top 10 in 2021 for the first time ever and into the Top 5 in 2024. A favorite in English speaking countries, it also ranks highly across the UK and Ireland, and in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.

Friendly nickname Theo may be responsible for some of that, though there are plenty of baby boys given Theo as their full name too. Add their numbers together along with those for Mateo and Teo, and they hands-down become the Number 1 boys' name.

Theodore and Mateo are far from interchangeable names, for sure, and some Theodores are called Teddy....or Theodore. But we predict an overwhelming number of little boys called Theo or Teo on American playgrounds over the coming years.

Theodore is a derivative of the Latin Theodorus, a variation of the Greek name Theodōros. The components are from the Greek words theos, meaning "God," and dōron, meaning "gift," giving Theodore the meaning "God-given" or "gift of God." Names with similar origins include Theodora, Dorothy, and Dorothea.

When Theodore Roosevelt took office in 1901, the name Theodore was in the Top 40 boy names, with Teds and Teddys everywhere. After some damaging stereotypes—the chubby Chipmunk Theodore and Beaver Cleaver's real name—Theodore went into a decline, from which it has definitely made a recovery, thanks in part to the popular and likable nickname Theo.

Theodore has been the choice of several celebrities, including Ivanka Trump, Bryce Dallas Howard, Natascha McElhone, and Ali Larter, not to mention being the fictional son of Christian and Ana in Fifty Shades of Grey.

The name has a distinguished history. In addition to being presidential, it was borne by novelist Dreiser, poet Roethke, and French painter Gericault, and it was the first name (spelled Theodor) of Dr. Seuss.

Among the well-known Teds, baseball's Williams and musician Nugent were born Theodore, but Ted Turner was christened Robert, and Ted Kennedy and Ted Danson were originally Edward.

The beloved character Laurie in Little Women was named Theodore Laurence.

Theodore Rank in US Top 1000

# 4 in the US

Theodore Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 2 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Theodore

• 4 US 2024
• 2 Nameberry 2025
• 3 Canada 2023
• 2 Future 2035
• 8 England 2023
• 37 Scotland 2024
• 58 Ireland 2024
• 3 Australia 2024
• 7 New Zealand 2024

20 Names Similar to Theodore

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

• Oliver
• Henry
• Leo
• Theo
• Oscar
• Felix
• James
• Sebastian
• Arthur
• Elliot
• Milo
• August
• Hugo
• Jude
• Ezra
• Jack
• Eleanor
• William
• Benjamin
• Finn

Famous People Named Theodore

• Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt Jr 26th U.S. president
• Theodore "Ted" Roosevelt III U.S. politician and general; son of President Teddy Roosevelt
• Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams American baseball player
• Theodore Fulton "Ted" Stevens U.S. Senator from Alaska
• Theodore Tillman "Ted" Shackelford III American actor
• Theodore DeReese "Teddy" Pendergrass American R&B/soul singer and songwriter
• Theodore Raymond "T. R." Knight American actor
• Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser American novelist
• Theodore Maiman American inventor of the laser
• Theodore William Richards winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry
• Theodore Schultz winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
• Theodore "Teddy" Bridgewater American NFL football player
• John Theodore "Teddy" Geiger II American transgender female singer,songwriter and music producer
• Theodore Kelly (b. 2000) son of actress Natascha McElhone
• Theodore Norman Howard Gabel (b. 2007) son of Bryce Dallas Howard and Seth Gabel
• Theodore Hayes MacArthur (b. 2010) son of actress Ali Larter
• Theodore Ignatius Fitzpatrick (b. 2013) son of musician Michael Sean 'Fitz' Fitzpatrick and actress Kaylee Anne DeFer
• Theodore Vigo Sullivan Gillies (b. 2015) son of actors Rachael Leigh Cook & Daniel Gillies
• Theodore James Kushner (b. 2016) son of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner; grandson of US President Donald Trump
• Theodore Kubrick de Ravin Bilitch (b. 2018), son of actress Emilie de Ravin

The name Theodore in Pop Culture

• Theodore Aloysius "Theo" Huxtable character on "The Cosby Show"
• Theodore chipmunk in the Alvin and the Chipmunks series
• Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver main character on TV's "Leave it to Beaver"
• Theodore "Theo" Kojak character on TV's "Kojak"
• Theodore "Teddy" Duchamp a main character in film "Stand By Me" and novella "The Body" by Stephen King
• Theodore "Ted" Wong character from the YouTube series Video Game High School
• Theodore "T Dog" Douglas character on TV's "The Walking Dead"
• Theodore "TJ" Detweiler characterin animated series "Recess"
• Theodore "Teddy" Altman Hulkling in Young Avengers comics
• Theodore "Laurie" Laurence character in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women
• "Theodore Boone " series by John Grisham and its main character
• Theodore Evelyn "Ted" Mosby character on TV's "How I Met Your Mother"
• Theodore "Theo" Nott character in the "Harry Potter" series
• Theodore Raymond Grey Christian and Ana's son in the Fifty Shades of Grey
• Theodore "Theo " main character in Donna Tartt's "The Goldfinch"
• Theodore "Teddy" Flood character on TV's "Westworld"
• Theodore Finch character in Jennifer Niven's All The Bright Places
• Theodore "T Bag" Bagwell, character in TV's "Prison Break"
• Theodore Lindsey Templeton Jr. (Boss Baby) main character on “The Boss Baby”

International Variations of the name Theodore

• Dorek Polish
• Theodoor Dutch
• Thao Greek
• Theodrekr Norwegian
• Tewdwr Welsh
• Teodor Czech
• Tewdor German
• Tudor Welsh
• Tedik Czech
• Todor Russian
• Feodor Russian
• Theodosios Greek
• Fyodor Russian
• Fedir Russian
• Tedorik Polish
• Tolek Polish
• Feodore Russian
• Tivadar Hungarian
• Theodor German
• Fedor Russian
• Todos Russian
• Teodoro Spanish
• Teodorek Polish
• Teodosio Italian
• Teos Polish
• Teadoir Gaelic
• Théodore French
• Fedinka Russian
• Bohdan Czech
• Fedar Russian
• Teodus Czech
• Teodomiro Spanish
• Fedya Russian