Thaddaeus
Masculine · “Not established”
The ae in Thaddaeus is a Latin transcription of a Greek diphthong, and American spelling reform killed it almost everywhere else. Webster dropped it from encyclopedia, medieval and archaeology; Britain kept it longer. In names it survives because names resist reform.
How old is the name Thaddaeus?
Thaddaeus first appears in US birth records in 1924 — 101 years ago. The typical Thaddaeus alive today was born around 2000, making them about 25 years old. About 1,000 people named Thaddaeus are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Thaddaeus most popular?
Thaddaeus peaked in 1978, reaching #2205 nationally. Today it ranks #7679, 5,474 places below that high. See the whole 1978 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Thaddaios to Thaddaeus
The story of Thaddaeus
Latin transcribed Greek ai as ae and oi as oe, and English inherited both in a large stock of learned words: aegis, aesthetic, encyclopedia, medieval, fetus, oesophagus, Caesar. Noah Webster's spelling reforms of the 1820s onward simplified most of them to a plain e for American use, which is why American English writes encyclopedia, medieval, fetus and esophagus. Names were left alone, partly because they were regarded as fixed and partly because they carry no reforming constituency. Thaddaeus therefore preserves an orthographic convention that has been driven out of the surrounding vocabulary. The American figures peak in 1978.
Meaningnot established
Not established — an Aramaic name of disputed sense
Thaddaios is the Greek form of an Aramaic name whose derivation is not settled; a link to tadda, breast, giving heart or courageous, is the most commonly cited and is not secure. Thaddaeus is the Latin spelling with the ae digraph representing Greek ai. The apostle called Thaddaeus in Matthew and Mark is called Judas son of James in Luke, and the Western Church has generally treated them as one man.
How the name formed
- Thaddaios
- Thaddaeus
- Thaddeus
Related forms: Thaddeus · Tadeusz · Taddeo · Tadeo
Pronouncing Thaddaeus
THAD-ee-us
Three syllables, stress on the first, with the th said as a plain t as in Thomas. The ae is a single vowel sound, not two; Thaddaeus and Thaddeus are said identically.
Nicknames for Thaddaeus
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
- 1924
- Most boys named
- 200529 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2205reached in 1978
- Change vs 2024
- −37.5%10 in 2025, from 16
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.
Thaddaeus in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Thaddeus in English — spelling variant
- Tadeusz in Polish — same name
- Taddeo in Italian — same name
- Tadeo in Spanish — same name
Thaddaeuss among us
people named Thaddaeus are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 170,808 born in 2025 was named Thaddaeus
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 Nicanor test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Thaddaeus's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Nicanor climbed just as high around 1954, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Nicanor's path sketches the road Thaddaeus is walking now.
Thaddaeus 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
Thaddaeus beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Thaddaeus in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is a genuine apostolic name with a long European history.
- Thad and Tad are immediate short forms.
- The classical spelling gives it formal weight.
- Thaddeus is the standard American spelling and will be substituted.
- The meaning is genuinely unknown.
- The ae digraph invites misspelling.
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What they receive
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Thaddaeus
Masculine · #7679 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Thaddaeuss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Thaddaeus are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Thaddaeus in 2025?
- Thaddaeus ranks #7679 among US boy names in 2025, with 10 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Thaddaeus?
- About 1 in every 170,808 US boys born in 2025 was named Thaddaeus — 10 in all.
- Will my child share the name Thaddaeus with classmates?
- Thaddaeus will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Thaddaeus
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Early#7679 · Obie#7679 · Huston#7679 · Knute#7679 · Rance#7679 · Blain#7679 · Doyle#7679 · Millard#7679
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Thaddaeus? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Thaddaeus and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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