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 [ 3 syll. (t)heo-do-re, th-eod-ore ] The boy name Theodore is also used as a girl name, but it is much more common for boys. Its pronunciation is THIYahDAOR KEY. Theodore is used predominantly in the English language and its origin is Old Greek. The name's meaning is gift of god. Biblical name derived from the elements 'theos' meaning god ; 'doron' meaning gift. Theodoros (Old Greek) and Theodorus (Latinized) are old forms of Theodore. The name was popular among early Christians and it was borne by more than twenty saints. It thus suffered a drop in popularity among English Puritans in the 17th century, due to the Roman Catholic associations. The name later saw a revival in the 19th century, popularized by the US President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919). The president gave his name to the 'teddy bear' after he refused to shoot a bear tied up as his kill on a hunting trip; subsequent caricatures depicted the bear as small and cute, and it was soon made into a stuffed toy originally named "Teddy's bear". In literature, the name is known from the central character in the Horace Walpole novel The Castle of Otranto (1764). The name Theodora (English, German, and Greek) is the female version of Theodore. Theodore is a widely used name; it has 45 variants that are used in both English and other languages. Variants of Theodore used in English include Tedd, Theodor (also used in Czech, German, Romanian, and Scandinavian), and Tudor (also used in Welsh). Other English variants include the short forms Ted and Theo (also used in Dutch, German, and Scandinavian), and the pet forms Tadd, Teddie, Teddy, Terry, and Thad. Foreign variants of Theodore include Bohdan (Czech and Ukrainian), Dorek (Polish), Fedinka (Russian), Fedir (Ukrainian), Fedor (Czech, Polish, and Russian), Feodor (Russian and Slavic), Feodore (Russian), Fjodor (Russian), Fyodor (Russian), Tedik (Czech), Teo (Spanish and German), Teodomiro (Spanish), Teodor (Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Scandinavian, and Slavic), Teodorek (Polish), Teodoro (Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish), Teodors (Latvian), Teodus (Czech), Teos (Polish), Tewdor (German), Tewdwr (Welsh), Theirn (French), Theodoor (Dutch), Theodoros (Greek), Theodorus (Dutch), Théo (French), Théodore (French), Tivadar (Hungarian), Todor (Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Slavic, and Ukrainian), Todos (Aramaic and Russian), Tolek (Polish), Tódor (Hungarian), Tudyr (Welsh), and Twdor (Hungarian). Specific foreign variants include the short form Teuvo (Finnish), and the pet form Fedya (Russian). See also the related form, Thaddeus (English). Theodore is a classic favorite. Today it is still popular as a baby name for boys, though it was in more widespread use before. At the peak of its usage in 1904, 0.603% of baby boys were given the name Theodore. It ranked at #30 then. The baby name has since suffered a marked loss in popularity, and it is of occasional use in recent years. In 2008, its usage was only 0.052% and its ranking #295, but it was nonetheless the most popular out of all boy names in its group. In 2008, 96% more boys were named Theodore than the next most popular name, Terry (English). Theodore has in the past century been mostly given to boys. Baby names that sound like Theodore include Théodore (French), Teodor (Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Scandinavian, and Slavic), Theodor (Czech, English, German, Romanian, and Scandinavian), Tari (Arabic), Taro (Japanese), Teodoro (Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish), Terah (Hebrew), Terri (English), Terrie (English), Terry (English), Theodoor (Dutch), Thierry (French), Todor (Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Slavic, and Ukrainian), Torao, Tory (English), Tódor (Hungarian), Tudor (English and Welsh), Tudur (Welsh), Tudyr (Welsh), and Tyree (English). Details of famous persons named Theodore: KEY: Pronunciation for Theodore: TH as in "theta (TH.EY.T.AH)" ; IY as in "eat (IY.T)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; D as in "dee (D.IY)" ; AO as in "ought (AO.T)" ; R as in "read (R.IY.D)"   |
