Humanverse

Theo vs Theotis

American parents have registered 39,333 Theos since 1880, against 939 Theotises. Theo is still ahead, with 3,966 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Theo against Theotis, 1880 to 2025 0 1.3k 2.5k 3.8k 5k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Theo Theotis

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Theo has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1880 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 1971, when Theo had 23 and Theotis had 15.

Side by side

  Theo Theotis
Total US births 39,333939
Most in one year 4,18232
Babies in 2025 3,966under 5
Estimated living today 33,000640
Median age today 454
Peak year 20231977
Best rank 78th boys1,670th boys
Rank in 2025 82ndunranked
First recorded 18801918
Girls / boys 3,503 / 35,8300 / 939

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Theotises alive today are over 54; half the Theos are over 4. That is 50 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Theo and Theotis.