Head to head · Boys' names
Tate vs Timothy
#193 vs #203 in 2025
Tate is a whisker ahead (#193 vs #203 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Tate is climbing the charts fast, Timothy is holding its place on the charts.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
The tape is even: Tate and Timothy each lead 3 measures of 6.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Tate —, Timothy #187 — Timothy higher
- 1890s: Tate —, Timothy #211 — Timothy higher
- 1900s: Tate —, Timothy #244 — Timothy higher
- 1910s: Tate #2699, Timothy #328 — Timothy higher
- 1920s: Tate #3726, Timothy #338 — Timothy higher
- 1930s: Tate #3027, Timothy #254 — Timothy higher
- 1940s: Tate #3167, Timothy #81 — Timothy higher
- 1950s: Tate #3298, Timothy #22 — Timothy higher
- 1960s: Tate #1489, Timothy #14 — Timothy higher
- 1970s: Tate #942, Timothy #20 — Timothy higher
- 1980s: Tate #1188, Timothy #25 — Timothy higher
- 1990s: Tate #670, Timothy #39 — Timothy higher
- 2000s: Tate #419, Timothy #84 — Timothy higher
- 2010s: Tate #417, Timothy #143 — Timothy higher
- 2020s: Tate #249, Timothy #202 — Timothy higher
Timothy stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Tate | Timothy |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #187 |
| 1890s | — | #211 |
| 1900s | — | #244 |
| 1910s | #2699 | #328 |
| 1920s | #3726 | #338 |
| 1930s | #3027 | #254 |
| 1940s | #3167 | #81 |
| 1950s | #3298 | #22 |
| 1960s | #1489 | #14 |
| 1970s | #942 | #20 |
| 1980s | #1188 | #25 |
| 1990s | #670 | #39 |
| 2000s | #419 | #84 |
| 2010s | #417 | #143 |
| 2020s | #249 | #202 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Tate
cheerful, glad
The root reaches English through the Old Norse personal name Teitr, meaning glad or cheerful, reinforced by a related Old English name element with the same sense. Two roads, one meaning.
Teitr → Tait → Tate
How it traveled
The name spread first as a surname across northern England and lowland Scotland, where Norse settlement was heaviest, appearing in records as both Tate and Tait. Its most public bearer was Henry Tate, the Liverpool sugar refiner who gave Britain the gallery that still carries the name.
Timothy
honoring God
Greek Timotheos joins time, honor or worth, with theos, god. The compound can be read either way round — honoring God, or honored by God — and Greek does not settle it. The derivation itself is not disputed. Timothy of the epistles was Paul's traveling companion and the recipient of two letters; the name reached English in its Latin form and was anglicized during the sixteenth century.
Timotheos → Timotheus → Timothy
How it traveled
Timothy grass takes its name from Timothy Hanson, an eighteenth-century American farmer who promoted it as fodder — one of the very few cases where an ordinary man's first name became a botanical one. So a Timothy carries a Greek compound about honor and a hayfield at the same time.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Tate
TAYT
Rhymes with eight and late. One syllable, and the spelling gives it away on sight — misreadings are close to impossible.
- Tate — One syllable already, so most bearers go by the full name in every setting, formal and casual alike.
- Tater — An affectionate family extension rather than a real short form; used by parents and siblings, rarely outside the house.
- T — Initial-only nickname, most often on teams and in workplaces.
Timothy
TIM-uh-thee
TIM-uh-thee, three syllables, stress at the front, the middle reduced, the th as in think. Greek said the middle vowel fully and put the weight further back, so the English name has flattened it considerably.
- Tim — The front clipped, and a complete working name; what most Timothys go by.
- Timmy — The same softened, which belongs to childhood in most households.
- Timo — The European short form, standard across Finland and Germany and increasingly heard here.
Who has carried each name
Tate
No documented entry for Tate yet.
Timothy
Timothy Dalton (b. 1946) — James Bond of the late '80s
Timothy Olyphant (b. 1968) — Justified's Raylan Givens
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Tate if you want…
- a name most people already know#193 in 2025, 1,862 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 160 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesTate is 1 syllable to Timothy's 3
- a newer arrivalTate entered the US charts in 1912
Choose Timothy if you want…
- a name fewer children share#203 in 2025 — timothy will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name holding steadyTimothy is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itTimothy runs 3 syllables, Tate 1
- a long American recordTimothy was already in use when US records began in 1880
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Tate
Strengths
- Spelled exactly as it sounds, so it survives phone calls, roll calls and forms without correction.
- One syllable, which makes it easy to pair with longer or multi-syllable surnames.
- A documented history as a surname in northern England and Scotland going back to Norse settlement.
To consider
- The surname is currently attached to a widely discussed internet personality, and some adults will hear that before anything else. Associations like this tend to fade, but it is worth knowing now rather than later.
- This spelling goes to boys in nearly every case. A girl named Tate will often be read as a boy on paperwork and rosters, which some families welcome and others would rather avoid.
- Rhymes are plentiful and obvious — late, great, eight — and Tater turns up quickly on playgrounds. It is gentle teasing rather than cruel, but it does turn up.
Timothy
Strengths
- The Greek compound is settled and both halves are ordinary, dignified words.
- Tim is a complete working short form that needs no explanation anywhere.
- It has been in continuous English use for four centuries without belonging to one decade.
To consider
- A great many people carry it, so a Timothy will rarely be the only Tim in a room.
- It is strongly associated with the middle of the last century in America.
- Almost every Timothy is called Tim, so the full name is largely ceremonial.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Tate
56%chance Tate feels dated by 2040
Tate is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
Timothy
12%chance Timothy feels dated by 2040
Timothy has held the top-100 across 7 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Tate and Timothy in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Tate and Timothy?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Short and sweet: names of four letters or fewer
- Names at their all-time peak, right now
- One-syllable names: said in a single beat
- Surname names used up front
- all guides
Where Tate and Timothy each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Tate or Timothy — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Tate or Timothy?
- Tate, in 2025: Tate ranked #193 with 1,862 babies; Timothy ranked #203 with 1,734 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Tate or Timothy?
- Tate. Over the last five years Tate moved up 160 places; Timothy moved down 11 places.
- Which is the older name, Tate or Timothy?
- Tate entered the US charts in 1912; Timothy was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Timothy is the older name.
- How many people are named Tate and Timothy?
- About 27,000 people named Tate are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 922,000 people named Timothy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Tates or Timothys in the classroom?
- Tate will almost certainly be the only one in school. Timothy will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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