Teddy
Diminutive form of Theodore, meaning "gift of God" from Greek elements.
Name Census estimates that about 21,727 living Americans carry the first name Teddy. It is a predominantly male name (95.1% of registrations). The average person named Teddy today is around 56 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Teddy births was 1949 (637 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Teddy. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Teddy with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Teddy is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 1,719 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
22K
~ 1 in 15,776 Americans
Peak year
1949
637 babies that year
Average age
56
years old
2024 SSA rank
#898
Tracked since 1890
Census
Teddy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 19,309 people with the first name Teddy, which placed it at #1,637 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,637
National first-name rank
People counted
19K
19,309 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
6.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Teddy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Teddy is White at 70.7%. The next largest groups are Black (11.4%) and Hispanic (6.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Teddy described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Teddy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.7% · 13,642
- Black or African American11.4% · 2,200
- Hispanic or Latino6.9% · 1,339
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.0% · 1,168
- Two or more races3.4% · 665
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 295
Gender
Gender distribution for Teddy
Teddy leans heavily male at 95.1% of total registrations, but 1,719 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Teddy as a male name
- Ranked #898 in 2024
- 262 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1949 (613 births)
Teddy as a female name
- Ranked #3,494 in 2024
- 45 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (62 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Teddy leans strongly male. 18,246 people counted with this name were male (94.5%), compared with 1,064 female bearers (5.5%).
Popularity
Teddy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Teddy from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 5,637 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Teddy by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Teddy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Teddys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 43 states and territories. New York, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Teddy, while Rhode Island, Hawaii, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 652 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Teddy
The given name Teddy is a diminutive form of the name Theodore, derived from the Greek name Theodoros. The name Theodoros is composed of the elements theos, meaning "god," and doron, meaning "gift." Thus, the name Theodoros translates to "gift of God."
The name Theodore was in use among Greek-speaking populations since ancient times. It was a popular name among early Christians, who associated it with the meaning "gift from God." The diminutive form Teddy emerged in the 19th century as an affectionate nickname for Theodore.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Teddy was in reference to Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States. Born in 1858, he was affectionately known as "Teddy" from a young age, and the nickname stuck throughout his life. The popularity of the name Teddy surged after Roosevelt's presidency, as he became a national icon.
Another famous bearer of the name Teddy was Teddy Wilson, an American jazz pianist born in 1912. He was a prominent figure in the swing era and worked with legendary musicians like Benny Goodman and Billie Holiday.
Teddy Pendergrass, born in 1950, was an influential American singer and songwriter known for his deep baritone voice and contributions to the Philadelphia soul music scene.
In the world of literature, Teddy Wayne is an American novelist and memoirist born in 1971. His works explore themes of identity, masculinity, and modern culture.
Teddy Riner, born in 1989, is a French judoka who has won numerous Olympic and World Championship titles, making him one of the most successful athletes in the sport's history.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Teddy. While it originated as a diminutive of Theodore, the name Teddy has become a distinct and beloved name in its own right, carrying connotations of warmth, affection, and endearment.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Teddy
People
Teddy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Teddy as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Teddy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Teddy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21,727 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Teddy going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 15,776 US residents.
Is Teddy a common name?
We classify Teddy as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 35,040 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Teddy most popular?
The single biggest year for Teddy was 1949, when 637 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Teddy is about 56 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Teddy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 19,309 people with the name Teddy, or 6.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,637 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Teddy in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Teddy?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Teddy leans strongly male. 18,246 people counted with this name were male (94.5%), compared with 1,064 female bearers (5.5%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Teddy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Teddy is White at 70.7%. The next largest groups are Black (11.4%) and Hispanic (6.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Teddy most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Teddy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.7% (13,642 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Teddy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Teddy a male name?
Yes, 95.1% of people registered as Teddy in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Teddy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Teddy in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Teddy can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Teddy as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.