Teofilo
Masculine · “friend of God”
Teofilo is the Spanish and Italian form of a Greek name meaning friend of God, and the most famous person ever addressed by it may never have existed. Both the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are written to somebody called Theophilus, and scholars have argued for centuries about whether he was a patron, a convert, a Roman official, or simply a way of saying anybody who loves God.
How old is the name Teofilo?
Teofilo first appears in US birth records in 1905 — 120 years ago. The typical Teofilo alive today was born around 1969, making them about 56 years old. About 700 people named Teofilo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Teofilo most popular?
Teofilo peaked in 1905, reaching #1233 nationally. See the whole 1905 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From a Greek compound meaning friend of God to Teofilo
The story of Teofilo
Teofilo Stevenson turned down a fortune to stay an amateur. He won the Olympic heavyweight title three times for Cuba and was offered several million dollars to turn professional and fight the champion of the world, at a point when that fight would have been among the largest in the sport's history. He refused, and the sentence he gave the reporters has followed him ever since: what is a million dollars compared to the love of eight million Cubans. He stayed, kept boxing as an amateur, and died at sixty having never fought for money.
Meaning
friend of God
The Greek compound is transparent: a word for God and a word for loving or being a friend to. What is not transparent is who it was addressed to. The dedication calls him most excellent, which was a form of address for officials, but the name is also a perfectly good description of any reader, and the possibility that it is a device rather than a person has never been ruled out. Two of the longest books in the New Testament are addressed to a man who may be nobody.
How the name formed
- a Greek compound meaning friend of God
- two New Testament books are addressed to a Theophilus
- the name spreads through the Greek and Latin churches
- Teofilo established in Spanish, Italian and Portuguese
- carried to America with southern European and Caribbean migration
Related forms: Teofilo · Teofilo · Theophilos · Feofil
Pronouncing Teofilo
teh-OH-fee-loh
Four syllables with the weight on the second in Spanish. English readers reach for THEE-uh-fill-oh, which is the Greek showing through the spelling.
Nicknames for Teofilo
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
- 1905
- Most boys named
- 193017 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1233reached in 1905
- Change vs 2022
- +20.0%6 in 2024, from 5
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.
Teofilo in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Teofilo in Spanish — same name
- Teofilo in Italian — same name
- Theophilos in Greek — same name
- Feofil in Russian — same name
Teofilos among us
people named Teofilo are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Teofilo sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The meaning is clear, generous and easy to explain.
- Teo is available as a short form and is fashionable across Europe right now.
- It works in Spanish, Italian and Portuguese without changing a letter.
- Four syllables is a great deal of name in an English-speaking playground.
- English readers will put an h in it and stress the wrong syllable.
- It is rare enough in America that it will need spelling out constantly.
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Teofilo
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Teofilos are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Teofilo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Teofilo in 2025?
- Teofilo is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Teofilo with classmates?
- Teofilo will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More T names
The most-given names starting with T, all years combined.
Thomas#34 · Timothy#203 · Tyler#219 · Terry#1115 · Theodore#4 · Travis#434 · Todd#1609 · Tony#783
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Teofilo? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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