Theo

Spellings & scripts●

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 16 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Theo is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Indonesian given name7.3K records spelled Theo4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, South Africa, Netherlands

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written Théo, 'Theo

• Finnish given name6.2K records spelled Theo5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Finland, Netherlands, Slovenia, United States

  Languages: Finnish, Hungarian, Estonian

  Also written Théo

• Croatian given name6.2K records spelled Theo66 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Croatia, Poland, Czechia, North Macedonia

  Languages: Croatian, Polish, Russian

  Also written Teo, Тео, Тэо, Teoh, Théo

• a separate given name5.0K records spelled Theo2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Switzerland

  Also written Théo

• Thai given name928 records spelled Theo11 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Thailand, Laos, United States, Netherlands

  Languages: Thai, Lao

  Also written Théo, เทโอ, เธโอ, Theau, TheoS

• Italian given name923 records spelled Theo3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Italy

  Also written Théo, Thèo

63 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Theo is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, A male given name from Ancient Greek and nickname.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Swedish, Theo är ursprungligen en smekform till → Theodor. Det har varit ett av de populäraste namnen under 2000-talet. En känd namnbärare är artisten Theo (tidigare Theoz), egentligen Theodor Haraldsson, f. 2005. I den finlandssvenska almanackan 9 november.

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• In English, 'Thunderer'

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• English: short form of THEODORE and, less commonly, of THEOBALD .

  as a word

• In Indonesian, a Chinese Indonesian surname from Hokkien

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Karl Weierstrassb. 1815DEnot in their usual nameGerman mathematician (1815–1897)
• Theodor Mommsenb. 1817DEnot in their usual nameGerman classical scholar and historian (1817–1903)
• Theodor Herzlb. 1860HUnot in their usual namefather of modern political Zionism (1860–1904)
• Theo van Doesburgb. 1883NLDutch architect, painter, draughtsman and writer (1883–1931)
• Theodor Adornob. 1903DEnot in their usual nameGerman philosopher, sociologist and theorist (1903–1969)
• Theodor Seuss Geiselb. 1904USnot in their usual nameAmerican children's author and cartoonist (1904–1991)
• Heinrich Böllb. 1917DEnot in their usual nameGerman writer (1917–1985)
• Donna Stricklandb. 1959CAnot in their usual nameCanadian physicist, Nobel laurate
• Theo Walcottb. 1989GBEnglish association football player (born 1989)
• James, Earl of Wessexb. 2007GBnot in their usual nameson of Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,182 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Theo?

We estimate roughly 292 thousand people bear Theo (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Theo have the most bearers?

We estimate about 127 thousand people bear Theo in France, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled theo.

Where is Theo most common?

Theo is densest in France, where the national register counts about 1 in 534 people carrying it.

How common is Theo compared with other names?

In France, Theo is the 161st most common given name of 711,207 given names recorded there.

Is Theo a male or female name?

Theo is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Theo mean?

Recorded meaning: Short form of }Theodore and, less commonly, of Theobald.