Theodora
A feminine name derived from Greek, meaning "gift of God".
Name Census estimates that about 6,819 living Americans carry the first name Theodora. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Theodora today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Theodora births was 2022 (426 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Theodora. 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 Theodora with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
6.8K
~ 1 in 50,265 Americans
Peak year
2022
426 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
1957 SSA rank
#812
Tracked since 1880
Census
Theodora in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,116 people with the first name Theodora, which placed it at #3,097 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
#3,097
National first-name rank
People counted
7.1K
7,116 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Theodora
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Theodora is White at 67.7%. The next largest groups are Black (17.6%) 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 Theodora 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 Theodora at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.7% · 4,818
- Black or African American17.6% · 1,250
- Hispanic or Latino6.9% · 489
- Two or more races3.5% · 250
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 218
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 91
Gender
Gender distribution for Theodora
Out of the 12,316 babies given the name Theodora since 1880, 99.6% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Theodora as a male name
- Ranked #3,955 in 1957
- 6 male births in 1957
- Peak: 1939 (7 births)
Theodora as a female name
- Ranked #812 in 2024
- 343 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (426 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Theodora appears almost entirely female. Of the 7,119 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Theodora: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Theodora from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 1,847 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Theodora 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 Theodora during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Theodoras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 38 states and territories. New York, California, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Theodora, while New Mexico, Kansas, Rhode Island recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 184 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Theodora
The name Theodora has its origins in the Greek language, derived from the combination of the words "theos" meaning "god" and "doron" meaning "gift." It translates to "gift of God" or "given by God." This name gained prominence during the Byzantine Empire in the 6th century.
The earliest recorded use of the name Theodora can be found in the Byzantine court, where it was borne by Theodora, the wife of the Emperor Justinian I. Born around 500 AD, she was an influential figure who played a pivotal role in the Nika riots and helped shape the course of the Byzantine Empire.
Another notable Theodora was Theodora of Tyre, a female philosopher and mathematician who lived in the 3rd century AD. She was a renowned scholar and is credited with contributing to the development of Neo-Platonism, a philosophical movement that synthesized earlier Platonic traditions.
In the 9th century, Theodora of Khazaria, also known as Theodora the Khazar, was a prominent figure in the history of the Khazar Khaganate. She was a Jewish princess who converted to Christianity and played a significant role in the Christianization of the Khazar people.
During the Renaissance period, Theodora Dethier was a notable Dutch painter born in 1570. She was one of the few female artists of the time who achieved recognition for her portraits and still-life paintings.
More recently, Theodora Kroeber was an American writer and anthropologist born in 1897. She is best known for her book "Ishi in Two Worlds," which chronicled the life of Ishi, the last surviving member of the Yahi tribe of California.
Throughout history, the name Theodora has been associated with strong, influential women who have left their mark in various fields, including philosophy, art, literature, and politics. Its Greek roots and connection to the Byzantine Empire have contributed to its enduring appeal and historical significance.
People
Theodora + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Theodora 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
Theodora: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Theodora?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,819 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Theodora 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 50,265 US residents.
Is Theodora a common name?
We classify Theodora as "Rare". It ranks above 97.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12,316 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Theodora most popular?
The single biggest year for Theodora was 2022, when 426 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Theodora is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Theodora in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,116 people with the name Theodora, or 2.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,097 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 Theodora 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 Theodora?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Theodora appears almost entirely female. Of the 7,119 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Theodora?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Theodora is White at 67.7%. The next largest groups are Black (17.6%) 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 Theodora most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Theodora in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.7% (4,818 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 Theodora in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Theodora a female name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Theodora in the SSA data are female. 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 Theodora still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Theodora 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 Theodora 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 are named Theodora?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.