Tadeo
Masculine · “Debated”
Tadeo is the Spanish form of a name carried by one of the twelve apostles, and in Mexican and Central American devotion it belongs above all to San Judas Tadeo, whose feast falls on the 28th of October. Three syllables, all of them open, with the weight landing in the middle: tah-DEH-oh. It has been spoken in Spanish for centuries and reads cleanly in English too.
How old is the name Tadeo?
Tadeo first appears in US birth records in 1968 — 57 years ago. The typical Tadeo is a kid of about 4 — this name's wave is very recent. About 5,800 people named Tadeo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Tadeo most popular?
Tadeo peaked in 2024, reaching #412 nationally. Today it ranks #427, 15 places below that high. See the whole 2024 chart.
Tadeo appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Thaddaios to Tadeo
The story of Tadeo
The name begins as Greek Thaddaios, the byname given to one of the twelve apostles — the figure called Thaddaeus in Matthew and Mark, and known in Spanish as San Judas Tadeo. Latin took it as Thaddaeus, and from there each language reshaped it: Taddeo in Italy, Tadeusz in Poland, Tadeo in Spanish. In Mexico especially, devotion to San Judas Tadeo has been strong and public for generations, which is much of why the name traveled north with families and now shows up most in Texas, California and Illinois. Its recent rise in the United States is a very fresh wave — most people carrying it here are children.
Meaningscholars disagree
Debated — either "heart" or a short form of a Greek name meaning "gift of God"
Two serious readings compete. One traces Greek Thaddaios to an Aramaic root connected with the breast or heart. The other treats it as a Greek pet form of a name like Theodoros or Theodotos, both built on the idea of a gift from God. Neither has won, and the ancient sources do not settle it.
How the name formed
- Thaddaios
- Thaddaeus
- Taddeo
- Tadeo
Related forms: Taddeo · Tadeusz · Tadeáš · Thaddeus · Thaddée · Tadej
Pronouncing Tadeo
tah-DEH-oh
Stress on the middle syllable in Spanish. English speakers who meet it cold sometimes try TAD-ee-oh; one correction usually fixes it, since every letter is doing the job it looks like it is doing.
Nicknames for Tadeo
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1968
- Most boys named
- 2024782 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #412reached in 2024
- Change vs 2024
- −3.7%753 in 2025, from 782
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Tadeo in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Taddeo in Italian — same name
- Tadeusz in Polish — same name
- Tadeáš in Czech — same name
- Thaddeus in English — same name
- Thaddée in French — same name
- Tadej in Slovene — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Illinois.
Tadeos among us
people named Tadeo are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 2,268 born in 2025 was named Tadeo
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Rollin test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Tadeo's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Rollin climbed just as high around 1903, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Rollin's path sketches the road Tadeo is walking now.
Tadeo 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.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Tadeo is headed
Tadeo looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 42% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Tadeo beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Tadeo in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the way it sounds in both Spanish and English — no silent letters, no h to explain, unlike the English Thaddeus.
- Has a ready-made short form in Teo, which works on its own and travels easily between languages.
- A documented line back to Greek and Latin, and living forms in Italian, Polish, Czech and French.
- Strongly rooted in Mexican and Central American devotion to San Judas Tadeo, giving it a clear cultural anchor for families who want one.
- It is climbing quickly. A child born now may find the name noticeably more common among younger kids by the time they finish school than it is among their older cousins.
- Outside Texas, California and Illinois, expect to spell it out and to hear TAD-ee-oh occasionally before people settle into tah-DEH-oh.
- Neighboring spellings exist — Thadeo, Taddeo, Thaddeus — so forms and rosters will sometimes come back altered.
- The saintly association is strong and specific in Latino Catholic communities; that is a gift to some families and simply background to others.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Tadeo
Masculine · #427 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Tadeos are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,800 people named Tadeo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Tadeo in 2025?
- Tadeo ranks #427 among US boy names in 2025, with 753 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Tadeo?
- About 1 in every 2,268 US boys born in 2025 was named Tadeo — 753 in all.
- Will my child share the name Tadeo with classmates?
- Tadeo will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Tadeo
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Lian#428 · Isaias#426 · Pablo#429 · Wilder#429 · Lucca#425 · Nehemiah#429 · Julius#424 · Boone#423
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Tadeo? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Tadeo and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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