Name histories / Theodore
Theodore: U.S. name history
Published Social Security birth-name counts for the exact spelling Theodore in the male recorded field, 1880–2025.
In the latest file, Theodore was at position 4 among published male-field spellings, with 13,355 recorded births. That is up 1,286 from 12,069 in 2024. Its first released row in this archive is from 1880; a missing earlier row does not establish when the name began to exist.
What the historical pattern shows
Theodore was already a top-100 male-field spelling in 1880 and 1925. It had moved to position 312 by 2000, before a sustained climb from position 259 in 2010 to position 99 in 2015.
It reached fourth in 2025, when its annual count was also the highest in this archive. That recent rise is measurable in the SSA series; the file does not tell us why individual families chose the name.
Selected annual records
| Birth year | Published count | Position* |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 232 | 70 |
| 1900 | 429 | 61 |
| 1925 | 3,226 | 63 |
| 1950 | 2,960 | 99 |
| 1975 | 1,197 | 189 |
| 1990 | 1,231 | 233 |
| 2000 | 934 | 312 |
| 2010 | 1,333 | 259 |
| 2015 | 4,155 | 99 |
| 2020 | 8,638 | 23 |
| 2024 | 12,069 | 4 |
| 2025 | 13,355 | 4 |
*Position is calculated from the published entries in one year and field, ordered by count; it is not an official SSA rank. Counts are not adjusted for population or coverage. SSA suppresses small cells, so no row does not mean zero births.
Keep exploring
Compare Oliver · Henry; inspect any spelling in the annual popularity tool; or see the 2025 overview.
Sources: SSA national data and suppression rules · our data method. Data reviewed 1 November 2026.