Thirty years of Theodore
Theodore in numbers
Theodore has climbed from 152 boys in 1996 to 2,638 in 2025, close to its peak of 2,889 in 2021. Its biggest three-year rise came between 2016 and 2019, from 1,484 to 2,663. It ranked 209th in 1996, reached 8th in 2022 and ranks 9th now. On average it was given to 167 boys a year in the late 1990s, 300 in the 2000s, 1,265 in the 2010s and 2,754 in the 2020s so far.
† Shapes, averages and turning points are Baby Data calculations from the ONS counts.
Milestones
First year in each bandChange
- On last year-4%2,761 to 2,638
- 5 years-4%2,737 to 2,638
- 10 years+103%1,302 to 2,638
- 20 years+803%292 to 2,638
- Since 1996×17152 to 2,638
- Total, 1996 to 202532,849boys
† All changes and totals are Baby Data calculations from ONS counts. A total adds only the published years.
Across the three nations, 2025
Each from its own statistics office, never added togetherRank 9 · ONS · 2,761 in 2024
Rank 39 · NRS · 108 in 2024
Rank 40 · NISRA · 55 in 2024
England and Wales (ONS) count births in the calendar year; Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland (NISRA) count births registered in the year. Each comes from its own statistics office and they are never added together.
Year by year, 1996 to 2025 Show all 30 yearsHide the table
| Year | Rank | Babies | Change† | 1 in X† |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 9 | 2,638 | -4% | 1 in 114 |
| 2024 | 8 | 2,761 | +4% | 1 in 110 |
| 2023 | 8 | 2,666 | -6% | 1 in 114 |
| 2022 | 8 | 2,835 | -2% | 1 in 110 |
| 2021 | 11 | 2,889 | +6% | 1 in 111 |
| 2020 | 14 | 2,737 | +3% | 1 in 115 |
| 2019 | 18 | 2,663 | +38% | 1 in 124 |
| 2018 | 29 | 1,932 | +10% | 1 in 175 |
| 2017 | 38 | 1,761 | +19% | 1 in 198 |
| 2016 * | 42 | 1,484 | +14% | 1 in 240 |
| 2015 | 45 | 1,302 | +19% | 1 in 275 |
| 2014 | 59 | 1,090 | +33% | 1 in 327 |
| 2013 | 78 | 822 | +25% | 1 in 436 |
| 2012 | 97 | 655 | +30% | 1 in 571 |
| 2011 | 124 | 505 | +16% | 1 in 735 |
| 2010 | 137 | 437 | +1% | 1 in 849 |
| 2009 | 138 | 433 | -2% | 1 in 836 |
| 2008 | 128 | 442 | +13% | 1 in 821 |
| 2007 | 141 | 390 | +15% | 1 in 909 |
| 2006 | 148 | 339 | +16% | 1 in 1,010 |
| 2005 | =158 | 292 | +23% | 1 in 1,132 |
| 2004 | 174 | 237 | -2% | 1 in 1,385 |
| 2003 | =165 | 242 | +0% | 1 in 1,316 |
| 2002 | =163 | 241 | +26% | 1 in 1,270 |
| 2001 | 183 | 192 | -2% | 1 in 1,587 |
| 2000 | =176 | 196 | +10% | 1 in 1,580 |
| 1999 | 187 | 178 | +3% | 1 in 1,794 |
| 1998 | =192 | 172 | +4% | 1 in 1,895 |
| 1997 | 197 | 166 | +9% | 1 in 1,985 |
| 1996 | 209 | 152 | 1 in 2,194 |
* ONS’s boys’ 2016 file repeats the October total as September, so the 2016 births total is about 932 too low and 1 in X for 2016 is slightly too low. Rank follows ONS: names with the same count share a rank (shown with =). “Under 3” means the name was given to fewer than 3 babies that year, so ONS did not publish it.
Compare Theodore
Draws the second name on the chart above, on a shared scale.
Share and download
Theodore is in the free dataset (CSV and JSON), with the method and how to cite it.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Baby names in England and Wales, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0; National Records of Scotland; NISRA. Exact spellings are counted separately and names given to fewer than 3 babies are not published. Figures marked † are Baby Data calculations. How we calculate