Ted
Masculine · “gift of God”
Ted is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 75,160 boys against 264 girls since 1880.
Ted serves two names that have nothing in common. It is the rhyming pet form of Edward — Ed became Ned became Ted — and it is also the plain clipping of Theodore, which is Greek and means gift of God.
How old is the name Ted?
Ted was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Ted alive today was born around 1951, making them about 74 years old. About 41,000 people named Ted are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ted most popular?
Ted peaked in 1935, reaching #144 nationally. Today it ranks #3181, 3,037 places below that high. See the whole 1935 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Theodoros to Ted
The story of Ted
English built rhyming pet forms out of its commonest medieval names, and Edward produced two: Ned, from a misdivision of 'mine Ed', and Ted, by the same consonant-swapping habit that gave Bob and Bill. Theodore arrived separately from Greek, through a long line of saints and emperors, and supplied the identical clipping. American families registered Ted as a legal name through the twentieth century, peaking in the mid-1940s.
Meaningscholars disagree
gift of God
Through Theodore, from the Greek theos, 'god', and doron, 'gift' — transparent and undisputed. Through Edward instead, the meaning is the Old English ead, 'wealth' or 'fortune', and weard, 'guardian'. The short form does not say which parent it has, and both were common.
How the name formed
- Theodoros
- Theodore
- Ted
Related forms: Fyodor · Teodoro · Teodoro · Θεόδωρος
Pronouncing Ted
TED
One syllable. Said identically in every English accent.
Nicknames for Ted
Moderate
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 19601,695 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #144reached in 1935
- Change vs 2022
- −9.8%37 in 2025, from 41
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.
Ted in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Fyodor in Russian — related form
- Teodoro in Italian — related form
- Teodoro in Spanish — related form
- Θεόδωρος in Greek — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Teds among us
people named Ted are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 46,164 born in 2025 was named Ted
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 Clifton test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Ted's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Clifton climbed just as high around 1915, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Clifton's path sketches the road Ted is walking now.
Ted sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Ted is headed
Ted should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
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.
Ted beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ted in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two entirely separate formal names stand behind it, one Greek and one Old English.
- Three letters, one syllable, and never misheard.
- The rhyming-nickname history is a genuine curiosity of the language.
- Given outright it stays informal, with nothing longer on the certificate.
- The teddy bear takes its name from a president's nickname, which is a fixed association.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Ted to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Ted
Masculine · #3181 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Teds are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 41,000 people named Ted are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ted in 2025?
- Ted ranks #3181 among US boy names in 2025, with 37 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ted?
- About 1 in every 46,164 US boys born in 2025 was named Ted — 37 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ted with classmates?
- Ted will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ted
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Diamond#3181 · Walden#3181 · Tobin#3181 · Keion#3181 · Artem#3181 · Arsh#3181 · Kris#3181 · Esau#3181
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ted? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ted and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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