Theda
Feminine · “gift of God”
Theda is the front of Theodora — gift of God — and it reached wide American use through a silent film star whose entire name was invented by a studio.
How old is the name Theda?
Theda was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Theda alive today was born around 1927, making them about 98 years old. About 1,800 people named Theda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Theda most popular?
Theda peaked in 1919, reaching #337 nationally. See the whole 1919 chart.
Where it comes from
From theos doron to Theda
The story of Theda
Theodora was a Byzantine empress — Justinian's wife, the most consequential woman in sixth-century Europe — and the name spread through Orthodox and German use, producing Theda as a short form. It reached American visibility through Theda Bara, the silent-film actress whose name and biography were entirely constructed by her studio in 1915; American use peaked around 1918.
Meaning
gift of God
Through Theodora, from the Greek theos, 'god', and doron, 'gift'. Both elements are ordinary Greek and the compound is undisputed. Theda is a German short form of Theodora and also of Theodolinde. The meaning is transparent to any Greek speaker.
How the name formed
- theos doron
- Theodora
- Theda
Related forms: Theda · Theodora · Θεοδώρα
Pronouncing Theda
THEE-duh
Two syllables, stress on the first. German says TAY-da with a different first vowel.
Nicknames for Theda
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 girls named
- 1918354 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #337reached in 1919
- Change vs 2019
- −28.6%5 in 2021, from 7
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.
Theda in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Theda in German — same name
- Theodora in English — related form
- Θεοδώρα in Greek — transliteration
Thedas among us
people named Theda 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
Theda 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 gift-of-God meaning is transparent and undisputed.
- A Byzantine empress of real consequence stands behind the parent name.
- Thea is available as a closely related form with real currency now.
- Theodora and Thea are both commoner and close in sound.
- The silent-film association was itself a studio invention.
- It is strongly period-coded to the early twentieth century.
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Theda
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Thedas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,800 people named Theda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Theda in 2025?
- Theda is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Theda with classmates?
- Theda will almost certainly be the only one in school.
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Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Theda? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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