Theodor
Most Poles have never met one, yet it's on the way up: more boys carried it last year than before. The root is Greek, from theos and doron, god and gift, together read as gift of god.
Theodor Pronunciation
What Theodor means
Where Theodor comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Theodor begins in Greek, where Theodoros joined theos, god, with doron, gift. The result reads as a small blessing: gift of god. That meaning has stayed legible across centuries, since both halves of the compound remained easy to hear.
In German and Scandinavian lands the name settled firmly. Theodor Fontane, the novelist born in Neuruppin in 1819, carried it into German literature. It travelled north into Danish and Swedish use as well. The spelling with a final consonant, no silent flourish, is the form German speakers know.
Polish keeps the variant Teodor, close enough that a child could answer to either on a class register. Short one. The name day recurs more than once across the calendar. The plain sense underneath stays the same: dar boży, gift of god.
How many people are named Theodor
1 in 81474 men in Poland is named Theodor. 262 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1896 among male names.
Theodor's popularity over time
17 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #563 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2011.
Where parents choose Theodor
Theodor is most popular in Pomeranian, 204% above the national average (11 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Lesser Poland (+152%) and West Pomeranian (+141%). It is least common in Masovian and Kuyavian-Pomeranian, 31% and 25% below average respectively.
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Pomeranian
+204%1 in 13,393 babies
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Lesser Poland
+152%1 in 16,208 babies
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West Pomeranian
+141%1 in 16,885 babies
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Masovian
−31%1 in 59,044 babies
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian
−25%1 in 54,690 babies
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Pomeranian+204% 11 born1 in 13,393 babies+204%
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Lesser Poland+152% 14 born1 in 16,208 babies+152%
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West Pomeranian+141% 5 born1 in 16,885 babies+141%
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Lubusz+64% 2 born1 in 24,829 babies+64%
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Greater Poland+33% 7 born1 in 30,749 babies+33%
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Warmian-Masurian+14% 2 born1 in 35,897 babies+14%
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Lower Silesian+4% 4 born1 in 39,284 babies+4%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian−25% 2 born1 in 54,690 babies−25%
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Masovian−31% 6 born1 in 59,044 babies−31%
Theodor as a middle name
Theodor is a first name for 262 men in Poland and a middle name for another 116, a 69/31 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 650th, between Wladyslaw (117) and Ulrich (116).
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#648 Willem117
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#649 Wladyslaw117
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#650 Theodor116
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#651 Ulrich116
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#652 Abdullah115