Head to head · Girls' names
Taytum vs Theodora
#732 vs #725 in 2025
Theodora is a whisker ahead (#725 vs #732 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Theodora is holding its place on the charts, Taytum is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Taytum has the edge.
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
On the charts, Theodora leads 5 measures of 6; Taytum leads 1.
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: Taytum —, Theodora #671 — Theodora higher
- 1890s: Taytum —, Theodora #643 — Theodora higher
- 1900s: Taytum —, Theodora #619 — Theodora higher
- 1910s: Taytum —, Theodora #605 — Theodora higher
- 1920s: Taytum —, Theodora #565 — Theodora higher
- 1930s: Taytum —, Theodora #658 — Theodora higher
- 1940s: Taytum —, Theodora #653 — Theodora higher
- 1950s: Taytum —, Theodora #965 — Theodora higher
- 1960s: Taytum —, Theodora #1345 — Theodora higher
- 1970s: Taytum —, Theodora #2086 — Theodora higher
- 1980s: Taytum —, Theodora #2377 — Theodora higher
- 1990s: Taytum #8426, Theodora #2755 — Theodora higher
- 2000s: Taytum #2926, Theodora #3386 — Taytum higher
- 2010s: Taytum #1725, Theodora #2144 — Taytum higher
- 2020s: Taytum #836, Theodora #762 — Theodora higher
Theodora stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Theodora took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Taytum | Theodora |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #671 |
| 1890s | — | #643 |
| 1900s | — | #619 |
| 1910s | — | #605 |
| 1920s | — | #565 |
| 1930s | — | #658 |
| 1940s | — | #653 |
| 1950s | — | #965 |
| 1960s | — | #1345 |
| 1970s | — | #2086 |
| 1980s | — | #2377 |
| 1990s | #8426 | #2755 |
| 2000s | #2926 | #3386 |
| 2010s | #1725 | #2144 |
| 2020s | #836 | #762 |
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
Taytum
from an English place name meaning "Tata's homestead"
The route is clear — Old English hām, homestead or settlement, attached to the personal name Tata. What Tata itself meant is not established; it belongs to a family of short Old English pet names whose sense has been lost.
Tata → Tateham → Tatham → Tatum → Taytum
How it traveled
Tatum starts as English geography — settlements named for a man called Tata — and hardens into a surname carried by families in northern England, notably in the Tatham and Tatum spellings. Surnames of that kind traveled well to America, where the jazz pianist Art Tatum made the sound familiar to a wide audience in the mid-twentieth century, and where the twentieth-century habit of turning surnames into girls' first names did the rest.
Theodora
Gift of God
From Greek theos, "god", and dōron, "gift" — the same pairing found, in reverse order, in Dorothea.
Theodōros → Theodōra → Theodora
How it traveled
The name is Greek: theos and dōron joined into Theodōra, the feminine of Theodōros. It spread with Greek-speaking Christianity and became a name of the Byzantine court — most famously the empress Theodora, wife of Justinian I, whose portrait in mosaic still stands in Ravenna.
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
Taytum
TAY-tum
Stress on the first syllable. The -ay- spelling removes the guesswork that Tatum occasionally invites, so readers land on it correctly the first time.
- Tay — The everyday short form; informal, and shared with Taylor.
- Tate — Drawn from the first syllable's sound; also stands alone as a given name in its own right, used for boys and girls.
- Tay-Tay — A doubling used mostly by family and in early childhood.
- Tot — An affectionate household form, rarely used outside the family.
Theodora
thee-uh-DOR-uh
Four syllables with the stress on the third. Some speakers say thee-oh-DOR-uh, keeping the Greek theo- intact; both are accepted and neither needs correcting.
- Thea — The most common short form in current use, and long established as an independent given name of its own.
- Teddy — Informal; shared with Theodore, so it is used for boys and girls alike.
- Dora — Taken from the end of the name rather than the start; also stands alone as a given name, and is more familiar to older generations.
- Theo — Informal, and increasingly used on its own; overlaps heavily with Theodore.
- Also Teddie, Dodie.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Taytum if you want…
- a name on the way upup 445 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesTaytum is 2 syllables to Theodora's 4
- a newer arrivalTaytum entered the US charts in 1992
Choose Theodora if you want…
- a name holding steadyTheodora is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itTheodora runs 4 syllables, Taytum 2
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Thea, Teddy and Dora
- a long American recordTheodora 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
Taytum
Strengths
- The spelling states the pronunciation: nobody has to ask whether the first syllable is TAY or TAT.
- Short forms are already in circulation — Tay, Tate — and Tate is an established given name on its own.
- Sits inside a long-running American pattern of surnames used as first names, so it reads as familiar in kind even when the exact spelling is new.
To consider
- Tatum is the older and better-known spelling, so expect a lifetime of gentle correction — on forms, in email addresses, at the coffee counter.
- Respellings that swap in -ay- are a marker of a fairly narrow stretch of naming fashion, and that stamp may be legible to people later on.
- Surname names travel easily between boys and girls; Tatum is mostly given to girls in the US, but a stranger reading the name cold will not always assume that.
Theodora
Strengths
- An unbroken written record going back to the Greek-speaking Mediterranean, with a meaning that is settled and easy to state.
- Several ready-made short forms — Thea, Teddy, Dora, Theo — spanning formal and casual registers.
- The same spelling works in Italian, Spanish and Polish, and the name is recognizable across most of Europe.
To consider
- Four syllables is a lot to say, and it will often be shortened by others before it is shortened by you. Worth liking at least one of the nicknames.
- Teddy and Theo are shared with Theodore and are heard more often on boys, so a Theodora who goes by either may be asked to clarify.
- It sits low enough in current use that a Theodora will likely be the only one in her school — good for distinctiveness, occasionally tiring when a name needs repeating.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
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 Taytum and Theodora 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 Taytum and Theodora?
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 than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Taytum and Theodora — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Taytum or Theodora — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Taytum or Theodora?
- Theodora, in 2025: Theodora ranked #725 with 384 babies; Taytum ranked #732 with 377 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Taytum or Theodora?
- Taytum. Over the last five years Taytum moved up 445 places; Theodora moved up 110 places.
- Which is the older name, Taytum or Theodora?
- Taytum entered the US charts in 1992; Theodora was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Theodora is the older name.
- How many people are named Taytum and Theodora?
- About 4,000 people named Taytum are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 7,800 people named Theodora are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Taytums or Theodoras in the classroom?
- Taytum will almost certainly be the only one in school. Theodora 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
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Taytum, Theodora and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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