# Theo (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/theo/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Greek |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˈθioʊ/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 39,333 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 35,830 / 3,503 (9% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 43,001, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Short form of Theodore, or of the rare given names Theobald, Theophilus or Theodoric, or of Theodora.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 7 | 7,003 |
| 1975 | 6 | 8,968 |
| 1979 | 6 | 10,115 |
| 1991 | 5 | 15,259 |
| 2002 | 5 | 17,892 |
| 2016 | 11 | 10,057 |
| 2017 | 7 | 13,992 |
| 2018 | 7 | 13,679 |
| 2019 | 31 | 4,534 |
| 2020 | 44 | 3,493 |
| 2021 | 64 | 2,708 |
| 2022 | 50 | 3,276 |
| 2023 | 42 | 3,705 |
| 2024 | 31 | 4,554 |
| 2025 | 21 | 5,894 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 245 | 863 |
| 2012 | 287 | 790 |
| 2013 | 365 | 663 |
| 2014 | 550 | 509 |
| 2015 | 765 | 406 |
| 2016 | 952 | 354 |
| 2017 | 1,232 | 290 |
| 2018 | 1,554 | 243 |
| 2019 | 2,018 | 195 |
| 2020 | 2,225 | 172 |
| 2021 | 2,703 | 142 |
| 2022 | 3,642 | 98 |
| 2023 | 4,140 | 78 |
| 2024 | 4,129 | 80 |
| 2025 | 3,945 | 82 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 3 | 5,581 |
| 2023 | 3 | 5,687 |
| 2024 | 3 | 5,891 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,407 | 50 |
| 2012 | 1,629 | 44 |
| 2013 | 1,759 | 41 |
| 2014 | 2,008 | 37 |
| 2015 | 2,103 | 33 |
| 2016 | 2,279 | 29 |
| 2017 | 2,616 | 21 |
| 2018 | 2,741 | 19 |
| 2019 | 2,729 | 16 |
| 2020 | 2,598 | 17 |
| 2021 | 2,514 | 15 |
| 2022 | 2,808 | 9 |
| 2023 | 2,489 | 11 |
| 2024 | 2,387 | 12 |
| 2025 | 2,398 | 12 |

## People named Theo

- Theo Walcott, English association football player (born 1989)
- Theo van Doesburg, Dutch architect, painter, draughtsman and writer (1883–1931)
- Théo Hernandez, French footballer (born 1997)
- Theo Jörgensmann, German musician
- Théo van Rysselberghe, Belgian painter (1862-1926)
- Theo Bongonda, DR Congolese footballer
- Theo-Ben Gurirab, former Namibian politician (1938–2018)
- Theo Albrecht, German entrepreneur (1922-2010)
- Theo Bos, Dutch road cyclist and track cyclist
- Theo Lingen, actor, film director, screenwriter (1903–1978)
- Theo de Jong, Dutch footballer and manager
- Théo Pourchaire, French racing driver

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.