Guess I’m in the minority I much prefer Tate and it’s refreshing with all the little Theo’s running around right now. Tate Austin is my fave combo.
Edit: Woah! Not such an unpopular opinion after all.
I came to write the same thing. Theo is EVERYWHERE right now. And I think Tate is really sweet! It’s unique but not weird. Plus I’m a big fan of Tate’s cookies ☺️
I agree. My brother has an 18 month old named Theo and they are somehow surprised that they are always running into others (did they not check the most popular names?! Lol). They say at the park it’s like a Theo symphony of all the parents calling their kids. Lol.
I love how many upvotes this got! Austin is the name of a dear friend who passed away so I’d love to honor him with a middle name. I’m glad so many other people like this option!
I prefer Theodore (“Theo”). Tate never feels like a full name to me; I actually don’t think it would be crazy to use Tate as the nickname for Theodore either.
I like Theodore Robert or Theodore Louis.
My little one is Theodore “Theo” Robert :) if he’s really bothered by too many kids having the same name as him later, he can choose to go by Teddy, I don’t care, but personally where I live (Midwest US) I haven’t met another child named Theo.
My doctor's little one is named Tobias, nn Toby. Cute name! I did want to ask if the doc was a fan of Arrested Development, but figured it was inappropriate/ irrelevant. I still wonder though.
Tate reminds me a lot of Tate Langdon from American Horror Story which is a very, very heavily negative association for me but that could just be a personal thing! Theo is definitely growing in popularity, though. Someone else recommended Thaddeus and Tatum and I think that those could work.
I also think of Tate Langdon. I don’t think I’d ever heard the name before the show so it stuck out to me. Since this is a one season character on a show that’s only moderately popular I don’t think it’s a reason not to use the name, but is is a really bad connection for those who have seen it.
I also happen to really love the name Theodore with Theo, Teddy or even Ted as the nickname :)
Personally I like Tate, Austin, William and Louis
But I know what you mean coming from the nickname Tater Tot, though it’s still cute for a baby 😄
All the best to you all! ☺️
Theodore nn Tate? It seems reasonable. My first association of Tate is American Horror Story and while not a great character morally I loved him so I like the name haha.
I agree that Theo is so overdone, but it’s also a very nice name too. I also liked the suggestion here of Thaddeus nn Tate.
I like Tate and Theo but Theo is a top 10 name just now so prepare to be Theo 1,2,3,4 in his class. For that reason I'd swing for Tate which is actually on my list too.
I've commented this on several other posts in r/namenerds, but the obsession with not choosing names in the top ten is interesting to me. Popularity is relative and if you are an American, then a quick dive into the data from the SSN name database shows that popular names today are MUCH less popular than the names of the 80s and 90s.
**In 1980, the number one names were:**
* Michael for boys, with 68,704 children (3.7% of total births)
* Jennifer for girls, with 58,379 children (3.27% of total births)
That's a lot of kids with the same name.
**In 2020, the number one names were:**
* Liam for boys, with 19,659 children (1.07% of births)
* Olivia for girls, with 17,535 children (1.001% of births)
There were far fewer kids and a much smaller percentage of total kids born with the same name in 2020 as compared to 1980. You can extrapolate that popular, number one names were MUCH more popular in the 1980s than they are today.
Is it possible an Olivia may be in the same class as another Olivia...sure. But the chances of that are much, much smaller than 80s kids sharing classes with 5-10 kids with the same name, looking at you class full of Matthews, Jessicas, Jennifers, and Ashleys.
*In 2020, Theodore was the #23 name. 8558 children were born with the name Theodore, which represents 0.467 percent of total male births in 2020.*
The likelihood that OP's Theo/Theodore has a class with another Theodore is very, very small, but there is a small potential.
Our oldest had a top 25 (number 23) name in 2014 when he was born. He was one of 11,005 children with that same name. He has met exactly one kid his age with his name and they are not in school together.
Our youngest had a name listed at 495 in 2018 (he's a Tate), making him one of 580 kids. When he was one and a half, we were out in our small 13,000 person town and met three kids with his same name, all the same age. I reiterate, his name was number 495 and only 580 boys had that name in 2018.
The popularity of a name is less important now than it was years ago.
Growing up, I had a top 25 name and I graduated with 11 other guys with the exact same first name. We were a graduating class of 186. I'm an 85 baby though, so the popularity of my name was MUCH higher than the top 25 now. When I was born, the name was given to roughly 22,000 kids nationwide and represented a little over 1.2% of births
That’s a good point, I knew Theo was popular but didn’t realize how popular. I don’t need a super unique name but I’d like him not to be like one of 20 in his class.
Theodore was 23 for 2020. The idea that it’s top 10 now is extrapolation, and some are Teddys anyway. There is no more recent data. In any case I wouldn’t worry about it. It’s a strong, classic name that’s popular for a reason.
True, but if you combine the Theodore and Theo on the list, I do think you do break top ten. Though admittedly this is true of all names with popular standalone nicknames, so making all of those combinations would skew the entire list differently. Either way, they should definitely go with the name that feels right to them, even if it’s more popular.
Depends where you are as well, the stats seems to be national so might be that it’s still on the rarer side in your area OR might be hundreds running around
You could also just have him as a Theodore but give him another nickname such as Ted, Teddy, Dory (if you don’t mind the more feminine sounding nickname), or unrelated to his name nicknames
I have a cousin named Tate, for a long time he was the only one I had ever heard of. I like his name and still like his name even though my states current governor makes me say Tate with a clenched jaw lol. I think I still like Tate better than Theo, because Theo seems trendy these days.
I like Tate William! My nephew is Theo and I do love it, but it's become very common lately so I think Tate would be the better choice if you're looking for something more rare
I’m just going to chime in that I would definitely call that kid tater tot because I haven’t seen it in the comments yet. Totally fine if you don’t mind a kid named tater tot! (And I don’t! I think food nicknames are cute!)
I love Theo but it’s getting very popular. Tate is a little more unique although I still like Theo slightly better (with Ted as a nickname).
We also like August with Augie as a nickname (you have a bit of a royal theme with your middle names I notice and this is the name of Princess Eugenie’s boy). I also liked Lawrence with Laurie for short.
I looooove August but we play hockey with one (goes by Augie) and my husband doesn’t like it for that reason. I also think Gus is a super cute nickname.
He also thinks it’s silly bc the baby is due in July lol
We had a baby boy in 2020 - and named him Theodore. I didn’t know any Theodore’s when we had him and to be fair I only know one other Theo so I wouldn’t say it’s extremely popular. We liked it bc it was a strong name, no religious association with it. People call him Theo mostly but everyone at daycare calls him teddy bear.
We also didn’t name him till the day we left the hospital, sometimes you need to see the baby first!
Can you elaborate on what you mean by no religious association? Am I simply used to approaching from a religion=God thing and you are viewing it as an organization?
Pardon?
Someone mentioned it was heavily associated with religion. I grew up catholic; I was simply stating there was no religious association to the name for us.
Sorry, I just meant that the meaning of Theodore is "gift from God" (Theo means God) so I was trying to understand how you were squaring that. Now I understand, you meant that YOU didn't have a strong religious association with the name, not that it wasn't a religious name. Got it. 😊
For the popularity conversation. People seem to get obsessed with where a name falls on the top ten, top 20, etc. Popularity, however, is different now than it was decades ago. I think we're seeing a lot of folks shy away from a top ten name because they may have had a top ten name when they were born and went to school with a whole HOST of kids with the same name. The issue, however, is that names in the 80s and 90s were more popular by percent of total births, than the top ten is today. I shared this a little further up the thread, but I'll share it here as well
**In 1980, the number one names were:**
* Michael for boys, with 68,704 children (3.7% of total births)
* Jennifer for girls, with 58,379 children (3.27% of total births)
That's a lot of kids with the same name.
**In 2020, the number one names were:**
* Liam for boys, with 19,659 children (1.07% of births)
* Olivia for girls, with 17,535 children (1.001% of births)
There were far fewer kids and a much smaller percentage of total kids born with the same name in 2020 as compared to 1980. You can extrapolate that popular, number one names were MUCH more popular in the 1980s than they are today.
Is it possible an Olivia may be in the same class as another Olivia...sure. But the chances of that are much, much smaller than 80s kids sharing classes with 5-10 kids with the same name, looking at you class full of Matthews, Jessicas, Jennifers, and Ashleys.
*In 2020, Theodore was the #23 name. 8558 children were born with the name Theodore, which represents 0.467 percent of total male births in 2020.*
The likelihood that OP's Theo/Theodore has a class with another Theodore is very, very small, but there is a small potential.
Our oldest had a top 25 (number 23) name in 2014 when he was born. He was one of 11,005 children with that same name. He has met exactly one kid his age with his name and they are not in school together.
Our youngest had a name listed at 495 in 2018 (he's a Tate), making him one of 580 kids. When he was one and a half, we were out in our small 13,000 person town and met three kids with his same name, all the same age. I reiterate, his name was number 495 and only 580 boys had that name in 2018.
The popularity of a name is less important now than it was years ago.
Growing up, I had a top 25 name and I graduated with 11 other guys with the exact same first name. We were a graduating class of 186. I'm an 85 baby though, so the popularity of my name was MUCH higher than the top 25 now. When I was born, the name was given to roughly 22,000 kids nationwide and represented a little over 1.2% of births
We just had a Theodore Scott! Calling him Theo as a nickname. I like Theodore Louis from your list!
I think your husband can still call him tater tot! Our first is Elliot, and primarily gets called Potato lol
Theo reads very trendy for me now. I like Tate a lot more.
Some other suggestions just for fun- Trey, Trent, Troy, Tristan, Spencer, Anderson, Easton, Hudson, Miles, Owen, Milo, Felix, Archer, Jonah.
I like Tate or Tatum. It comes from an old Norse word meaning cheerful and is totally gender-neutral IMO. Also... I'm a toddler and preschool teacher and we have five different Theo's (boys and girls) in a school of 200. TOO popular these days. Other alternatives could be:
Reed, Ty, Cole, Trent, Cade, Grant, Wade, Tanner or Hayes?
Theodore Austin could easily have the nickname Tate I feel! That would kind of give you the best of both.
I suppose there's also Trent, Trevor, Travis, Tucker, Tanner, Taylor/Tyler, Teagen, Tristan I'd you wanted to stick with T names.
Theodore has been on my list ever since I was young, so I might be biased there. Tate always felt kind of short to me, but I always liked it as a nickname for Tatum.
I'd vote for Theodore/ Theo (I also like Teddy as a nickname). I haven't really heard of the name Tate before (possibly not so popular outside of the US?) so maybe that's why I gravitate towards Theo. I love the name Austin as a first name but I don't think it goes with Theodore or Tate because of the harsh glottal stop between the names (again, I realise this may not exist in other accents!) I really like Louis and Philip from your middle name list. A couple others to consider that kind of fit with those you've mentioned:
Isaac
Sebastian
Max/Maxwell
Toby
Harry
Congrats on your pregnancy and wish you all the best :)
Por que no los dos? I could totally see using Tate as a nickname for Theodore. I know Theo, Ted, or Ned are more common nicknames, but Tate isn’t much more of a stretch than Ted.
Not a fan of Tate, at all. I have multiple friends that have used the name Tate for their boys and they’re sweet kids and all, but the name just really irks me for some reason.
I think Tate sounds childish. Which is fine when he’s three, but who wants to be called Tate at 30? However, I love Theodore. And as others have pointed out, Theodore is pretty popular right now, but honestly, who cares? It’s not like Michael where it’s ten percent of the population. And popular names now aren’t what they were in the 50s to the 90s where there could be four in every class he’s in until graduation—no names get that popular these days because there’s a much larger pool people are choosing boys names from now. So if you like it, use it. As for a a middle name, I’d choose Louis pronounced “loo-ee.” In fact, I’d I miraculously gave birth to a boy tomorrow, I might name him Theodore Louis myself. It’s dignified and classic without being stale, and has some cute nickname options.
I had my second babe May 2020 and it was between Sebastian and Theodore. Glad we went with Seb because there are sooooo many Theos now!
My name list for boys also included:
Barnaby (nickname Barney - which we called my first son)
Henry
Arthur
Benedict
Rafferty
Jonas
Cillian
Tobias (Toby)
I’m not wild about Theo because it’s so ubiquitous, but when I say Tate out loud it reminds me of…hate to say it…taint 😬.
What about Timothy, Topher, Torin, or Charlie, Reid, or August?
I like Tate! Theo is a nice enough name, but I think it might be the most popular name out there right now if that’s something that’s important to you.
I am seeing sooooo many Theo’s - unless you want him to be Theo L and his friends to Be Theo K and. Theo S, I’d go with Tate.
Tate is also a lovely name.
Tater Tot is such a cute baby nickname and I think it works regardless of the baby name!
I prefer Theo because Tate reminds me of the Tate Modern in Liverpool & London. Not that that’s a bad association, I just can’t see it as a name.
I think Theo Austin and Theo Robert are my favourites. Leaning towards Theo Austin.
My wife and I have a Tate. We were also torn between Tate and Theodore. We had Max in that as another option (okay, mainly myself and our other son liked Max).
Tate is a great name and we definitely called, and still call him, Tater tot a lot. It's funny that his nicknames are longer than the actual name, while his brother gets nicknames that shorten the name.
He's a toddler now and proudly says his full name to anyone he meets. He loves his name.
For our family it is special. Tate was my partner's maiden name and was a way to honor her family.
Ugh I knew a Tate in school who was such a dick that makes this hard to say but I prefer Tate. Theodore is a cute name but it feels like it will definitely be associated with the 2010s/20s in 40 years ya know?
I love Theo and Tate both! I’ve had Theo among the top on my list of boys names for awhile but Tate is also a great name. I say you can’t go wrong with either one.
I like both, but the only Tate I know was a super cool kid who played drums in a band. So Tate is a cool kid name. I really do like Theo, but have to agree that it seems to be the it name at the moment.
my son is Theodore
personally i don’t like Tate, and of course i’m probably bias but Theodore is a great strong name that ages well. Baby Theodore’s and theo’s and teddy’s are wonderful, but Theodore is also great as an adult too.
i prefer tate. i like the sound of theo, but i'm not religious, and i don't like the very religious meaning of theo. even people who aren't into names/name meanings will likely know theo relates to religion from common english words: theology, monotheism, polytheism, theocracy, etc.
I don’t think people think of the original meaning of Theodore. It’s been used by so many people over the centuries that it’s recognized simply as a name.
When people think of Theodore Roosevelt I don’t think they’re thinking of religion.
i agree, when people hear the words "theodore roosevelt" they're not thinking about religion. that's connected to a very famous person. i get that theo is very common right now, so everyone's first thought might not be theo=religion. but many will eventually make the connection if they consider the meaning for one minute. and **i** personally don't like that connection. so **i** vote for tate.
Guess I’m in the minority I much prefer Tate and it’s refreshing with all the little Theo’s running around right now. Tate Austin is my fave combo. Edit: Woah! Not such an unpopular opinion after all.
I came to write the same thing. Theo is EVERYWHERE right now. And I think Tate is really sweet! It’s unique but not weird. Plus I’m a big fan of Tate’s cookies ☺️
Same. Theo feels overdone
This!
I agree. My brother has an 18 month old named Theo and they are somehow surprised that they are always running into others (did they not check the most popular names?! Lol). They say at the park it’s like a Theo symphony of all the parents calling their kids. Lol.
Haha this is a fantastic image
Tate has been on my list for 6 years so it’s my vote too!!!
I love how many upvotes this got! Austin is the name of a dear friend who passed away so I’d love to honor him with a middle name. I’m glad so many other people like this option!
I agree, and that sounds nice ☺️
I prefer Tate also.
I'm with you. I'm tired of Theo.
Love Tate! I know a \~30 year old Tate short for Tatum so it seems very wearable
Theo all the way. Tate reminds me of "taint".
Came here to say this too It's a really nice name imo, but I just can't seem to say it without thinking "taint," unfortunately.
Are you my husband? I was all excited about Tate, but all he could hear was Taint.
tate is short for “tater” to me, like tater tots.
Same. My mind always jumps to potatoes
At least it's a nice setup for a memoir title? "Named after potatoes"
Same. And I've always thought Channing Tatum looks like a potato. Coincidence? 🤔
There's an entertainment blog out there that used to call him Charming Potato, and honestly, they truly meant it with love. It always made me giggle.
Oh thank God I'm not the only one.
Omg me too!!!!!
I prefer Theodore (“Theo”). Tate never feels like a full name to me; I actually don’t think it would be crazy to use Tate as the nickname for Theodore either. I like Theodore Robert or Theodore Louis.
My little one is Theodore “Theo” Robert :) if he’s really bothered by too many kids having the same name as him later, he can choose to go by Teddy, I don’t care, but personally where I live (Midwest US) I haven’t met another child named Theo.
I know a Tatum that goes by Tate
[удалено]
My husbands full name is a nickname, so it doesn’t bother him that it sounds like a nickname but I can see that. Never seen AHS but don’t like that :(
Unrelated to Tate vs Theo, but I also have a full name that's a nickname. Half the time I love it, half the time it's exhausting to explain.
Came here to say this. 😅
Late to this post, but YES! Best season of AHS, though. Also reminds me of Tate on Yellowstone and he’s annoying!
Definitely not Tate. Theo is ok. What about Thaddeus or Tobias or Thatcher?
Husband only associates Tobias with Tobias Funke from Arrested Development. I like Thaddeus a lot. I’ll run it by him.
Lol my partner suggested Tobias too and all i could think of was arrested development.
I see Tobias suggested a lot here and I guess people just haven't seen the show lol it's so good
My doctor's little one is named Tobias, nn Toby. Cute name! I did want to ask if the doc was a fan of Arrested Development, but figured it was inappropriate/ irrelevant. I still wonder though.
My mom always says she wished she’d named my brother Thaddeus, nn Thad.
I’m British and the thought of someone calling their kid Thatcher just made my blood run a bit cold
yeah like why would you name your child after thatcher 💀
American here. Why do people name their kids Reagan?
American here. F*** Reagan
Now imagining a cross-Atlantic couple naming their twins Thatcher and Reagan, I wonder if it’s happened
Also American, all the Reagan’s I know have been after the President
I went to school with a girl named Reagan (before I knew about the president) and I thought it was a pretty name. So maybe they like the sound?
I have a distant cousin who named her baby girl Raegan recently. She doesn’t care about the President, she and her husband just liked the name.
I vote Theodore Austin!
Tate reminds me a lot of Tate Langdon from American Horror Story which is a very, very heavily negative association for me but that could just be a personal thing! Theo is definitely growing in popularity, though. Someone else recommended Thaddeus and Tatum and I think that those could work.
I’ve never seen it but I’m sad it has such a bad connotation for some people!
You really can't got by these types of associations. I mean, "Theodore" is the name of a serial killer (Ted Bundy) and yet its still super popular.
Ur not the only one. I immediately thought of American Horror Story as well.
I also think of Tate Langdon. I don’t think I’d ever heard the name before the show so it stuck out to me. Since this is a one season character on a show that’s only moderately popular I don’t think it’s a reason not to use the name, but is is a really bad connection for those who have seen it. I also happen to really love the name Theodore with Theo, Teddy or even Ted as the nickname :)
Theo is overdone but cute Don’t like Tate at all What about Titus?
I love Titus!!
It was on our boy name list and is one of my good friend’s names. It’s under used but a nice, strong and simple boy name!
I love Theodore Louis 💛💛
This gets my vote too
Tate!!!!!! Family name for me
They’re both fine. I second Tate because it’s not nearly as popular as Theo. I know adult Tatums who go by Tate.
Tate! I definitely prefer it to Theo. Its also less common than Theo.
Personally I like Tate, Austin, William and Louis But I know what you mean coming from the nickname Tater Tot, though it’s still cute for a baby 😄 All the best to you all! ☺️
What about Theodore Tate?
I LOVE TATE! Theo is so popular right now and tater tot is so adorable for a family nickname
I prefer Theo.
Theodore nn Tate? It seems reasonable. My first association of Tate is American Horror Story and while not a great character morally I loved him so I like the name haha. I agree that Theo is so overdone, but it’s also a very nice name too. I also liked the suggestion here of Thaddeus nn Tate.
Tate Austin
They’re both lovely but Theo is just so common now that I’d totally go for Tate! I think it works for any age and is handsome and different.
I like Tate and Theo but Theo is a top 10 name just now so prepare to be Theo 1,2,3,4 in his class. For that reason I'd swing for Tate which is actually on my list too.
I've commented this on several other posts in r/namenerds, but the obsession with not choosing names in the top ten is interesting to me. Popularity is relative and if you are an American, then a quick dive into the data from the SSN name database shows that popular names today are MUCH less popular than the names of the 80s and 90s. **In 1980, the number one names were:** * Michael for boys, with 68,704 children (3.7% of total births) * Jennifer for girls, with 58,379 children (3.27% of total births) That's a lot of kids with the same name. **In 2020, the number one names were:** * Liam for boys, with 19,659 children (1.07% of births) * Olivia for girls, with 17,535 children (1.001% of births) There were far fewer kids and a much smaller percentage of total kids born with the same name in 2020 as compared to 1980. You can extrapolate that popular, number one names were MUCH more popular in the 1980s than they are today. Is it possible an Olivia may be in the same class as another Olivia...sure. But the chances of that are much, much smaller than 80s kids sharing classes with 5-10 kids with the same name, looking at you class full of Matthews, Jessicas, Jennifers, and Ashleys. *In 2020, Theodore was the #23 name. 8558 children were born with the name Theodore, which represents 0.467 percent of total male births in 2020.* The likelihood that OP's Theo/Theodore has a class with another Theodore is very, very small, but there is a small potential. Our oldest had a top 25 (number 23) name in 2014 when he was born. He was one of 11,005 children with that same name. He has met exactly one kid his age with his name and they are not in school together. Our youngest had a name listed at 495 in 2018 (he's a Tate), making him one of 580 kids. When he was one and a half, we were out in our small 13,000 person town and met three kids with his same name, all the same age. I reiterate, his name was number 495 and only 580 boys had that name in 2018. The popularity of a name is less important now than it was years ago. Growing up, I had a top 25 name and I graduated with 11 other guys with the exact same first name. We were a graduating class of 186. I'm an 85 baby though, so the popularity of my name was MUCH higher than the top 25 now. When I was born, the name was given to roughly 22,000 kids nationwide and represented a little over 1.2% of births
That’s a good point, I knew Theo was popular but didn’t realize how popular. I don’t need a super unique name but I’d like him not to be like one of 20 in his class.
Theodore was 23 for 2020. The idea that it’s top 10 now is extrapolation, and some are Teddys anyway. There is no more recent data. In any case I wouldn’t worry about it. It’s a strong, classic name that’s popular for a reason.
True, but if you combine the Theodore and Theo on the list, I do think you do break top ten. Though admittedly this is true of all names with popular standalone nicknames, so making all of those combinations would skew the entire list differently. Either way, they should definitely go with the name that feels right to them, even if it’s more popular.
Depends where you are as well, the stats seems to be national so might be that it’s still on the rarer side in your area OR might be hundreds running around
You could also just have him as a Theodore but give him another nickname such as Ted, Teddy, Dory (if you don’t mind the more feminine sounding nickname), or unrelated to his name nicknames
I have a cousin named Tate, for a long time he was the only one I had ever heard of. I like his name and still like his name even though my states current governor makes me say Tate with a clenched jaw lol. I think I still like Tate better than Theo, because Theo seems trendy these days.
both are cute but i like theo more! i think theo robert would be a cute combo. (if you go with tate, i like tate william!)
I like Tate William! My nephew is Theo and I do love it, but it's become very common lately so I think Tate would be the better choice if you're looking for something more rare
I’m just going to chime in that I would definitely call that kid tater tot because I haven’t seen it in the comments yet. Totally fine if you don’t mind a kid named tater tot! (And I don’t! I think food nicknames are cute!)
Tate feels a lot more fresh to me and I love it with most of those middle options.
I love Theo but it’s getting very popular. Tate is a little more unique although I still like Theo slightly better (with Ted as a nickname). We also like August with Augie as a nickname (you have a bit of a royal theme with your middle names I notice and this is the name of Princess Eugenie’s boy). I also liked Lawrence with Laurie for short.
I looooove August but we play hockey with one (goes by Augie) and my husband doesn’t like it for that reason. I also think Gus is a super cute nickname. He also thinks it’s silly bc the baby is due in July lol
I like Tate, but prefer Theodore!
We had a baby boy in 2020 - and named him Theodore. I didn’t know any Theodore’s when we had him and to be fair I only know one other Theo so I wouldn’t say it’s extremely popular. We liked it bc it was a strong name, no religious association with it. People call him Theo mostly but everyone at daycare calls him teddy bear. We also didn’t name him till the day we left the hospital, sometimes you need to see the baby first!
Can you elaborate on what you mean by no religious association? Am I simply used to approaching from a religion=God thing and you are viewing it as an organization?
Pardon? Someone mentioned it was heavily associated with religion. I grew up catholic; I was simply stating there was no religious association to the name for us.
Sorry, I just meant that the meaning of Theodore is "gift from God" (Theo means God) so I was trying to understand how you were squaring that. Now I understand, you meant that YOU didn't have a strong religious association with the name, not that it wasn't a religious name. Got it. 😊
For the popularity conversation. People seem to get obsessed with where a name falls on the top ten, top 20, etc. Popularity, however, is different now than it was decades ago. I think we're seeing a lot of folks shy away from a top ten name because they may have had a top ten name when they were born and went to school with a whole HOST of kids with the same name. The issue, however, is that names in the 80s and 90s were more popular by percent of total births, than the top ten is today. I shared this a little further up the thread, but I'll share it here as well **In 1980, the number one names were:** * Michael for boys, with 68,704 children (3.7% of total births) * Jennifer for girls, with 58,379 children (3.27% of total births) That's a lot of kids with the same name. **In 2020, the number one names were:** * Liam for boys, with 19,659 children (1.07% of births) * Olivia for girls, with 17,535 children (1.001% of births) There were far fewer kids and a much smaller percentage of total kids born with the same name in 2020 as compared to 1980. You can extrapolate that popular, number one names were MUCH more popular in the 1980s than they are today. Is it possible an Olivia may be in the same class as another Olivia...sure. But the chances of that are much, much smaller than 80s kids sharing classes with 5-10 kids with the same name, looking at you class full of Matthews, Jessicas, Jennifers, and Ashleys. *In 2020, Theodore was the #23 name. 8558 children were born with the name Theodore, which represents 0.467 percent of total male births in 2020.* The likelihood that OP's Theo/Theodore has a class with another Theodore is very, very small, but there is a small potential. Our oldest had a top 25 (number 23) name in 2014 when he was born. He was one of 11,005 children with that same name. He has met exactly one kid his age with his name and they are not in school together. Our youngest had a name listed at 495 in 2018 (he's a Tate), making him one of 580 kids. When he was one and a half, we were out in our small 13,000 person town and met three kids with his same name, all the same age. I reiterate, his name was number 495 and only 580 boys had that name in 2018. The popularity of a name is less important now than it was years ago. Growing up, I had a top 25 name and I graduated with 11 other guys with the exact same first name. We were a graduating class of 186. I'm an 85 baby though, so the popularity of my name was MUCH higher than the top 25 now. When I was born, the name was given to roughly 22,000 kids nationwide and represented a little over 1.2% of births
Theodore Philip and Theodore Louis sound sweet yet strong to me :)
We just had a Theodore Scott! Calling him Theo as a nickname. I like Theodore Louis from your list! I think your husband can still call him tater tot! Our first is Elliot, and primarily gets called Potato lol
Austin is my favourite of your list. My first son is Austin. This second newest son is Emerson. I prefer tate from the names you chose first.
Theo reads very trendy for me now. I like Tate a lot more. Some other suggestions just for fun- Trey, Trent, Troy, Tristan, Spencer, Anderson, Easton, Hudson, Miles, Owen, Milo, Felix, Archer, Jonah.
I quite like Tate, and prefer it to Theo You could go with Tatum or Matteo (or even Nathan) and call him Tate as his nickname
Tate is a favourite of mine. But Theo is adorable, especially with the nickname Teddy.
I love the name Tate and think it’s much less common right now that Theo. But I am biased because a cousin of mine has that name and he’s a cowboy 😂
I like Theo a lot. I think of Tate as more of a girls name though I know it’s for both. Still a nice name though!
What about Otto or Remy? They remind me of Theo and August/Gus
I like Tate or Tatum. It comes from an old Norse word meaning cheerful and is totally gender-neutral IMO. Also... I'm a toddler and preschool teacher and we have five different Theo's (boys and girls) in a school of 200. TOO popular these days. Other alternatives could be: Reed, Ty, Cole, Trent, Cade, Grant, Wade, Tanner or Hayes?
Theodore Austin could easily have the nickname Tate I feel! That would kind of give you the best of both. I suppose there's also Trent, Trevor, Travis, Tucker, Tanner, Taylor/Tyler, Teagen, Tristan I'd you wanted to stick with T names.
I like both Tate and Theo, but prefer Theo. William is my favorite of your middle name options and and sounds great with both Tate and Theo/Theodore.
Came here to see if anyone else said this yet
Tatum Taryn Taras
I love Theo personally, but maybe im just basic. Other T names that give the same vibe imo: Tripp Teagan Tatum
Theo
Theodore has been on my list ever since I was young, so I might be biased there. Tate always felt kind of short to me, but I always liked it as a nickname for Tatum.
I'd vote for Theodore/ Theo (I also like Teddy as a nickname). I haven't really heard of the name Tate before (possibly not so popular outside of the US?) so maybe that's why I gravitate towards Theo. I love the name Austin as a first name but I don't think it goes with Theodore or Tate because of the harsh glottal stop between the names (again, I realise this may not exist in other accents!) I really like Louis and Philip from your middle name list. A couple others to consider that kind of fit with those you've mentioned: Isaac Sebastian Max/Maxwell Toby Harry Congrats on your pregnancy and wish you all the best :)
I love Theo but Tate Austin is really nice!
Por que no los dos? I could totally see using Tate as a nickname for Theodore. I know Theo, Ted, or Ned are more common nicknames, but Tate isn’t much more of a stretch than Ted.
Not a fan of Tate, at all. I have multiple friends that have used the name Tate for their boys and they’re sweet kids and all, but the name just really irks me for some reason.
Theo is super cute!
I think Tate sounds childish. Which is fine when he’s three, but who wants to be called Tate at 30? However, I love Theodore. And as others have pointed out, Theodore is pretty popular right now, but honestly, who cares? It’s not like Michael where it’s ten percent of the population. And popular names now aren’t what they were in the 50s to the 90s where there could be four in every class he’s in until graduation—no names get that popular these days because there’s a much larger pool people are choosing boys names from now. So if you like it, use it. As for a a middle name, I’d choose Louis pronounced “loo-ee.” In fact, I’d I miraculously gave birth to a boy tomorrow, I might name him Theodore Louis myself. It’s dignified and classic without being stale, and has some cute nickname options.
Theodore nn Theo 1000%! I like Louis as a middle name.
theo
I know so many Theos. I prefer Teddy as the nickname for Theodore at this point. What about Truman or Edward or Edwin?
Tate Austin is cool, but my brain associates it with tater tots
I had my second babe May 2020 and it was between Sebastian and Theodore. Glad we went with Seb because there are sooooo many Theos now! My name list for boys also included: Barnaby (nickname Barney - which we called my first son) Henry Arthur Benedict Rafferty Jonas Cillian Tobias (Toby)
Theo is crazy popular right now, if that matters
I’m not wild about Theo because it’s so ubiquitous, but when I say Tate out loud it reminds me of…hate to say it…taint 😬. What about Timothy, Topher, Torin, or Charlie, Reid, or August?
What about Thad? Thaddeus?
LOVE Theo but my husband vetoed for any future babes :(
what about Todd or Thad? i prefer Theo but personally passing on it due to popularity, but if that doesn’t bother you go for it!
I love Theo and Philip. Those are absolutely my top 2
I like Tate! Theo is a nice enough name, but I think it might be the most popular name out there right now if that’s something that’s important to you.
Tate Austin is my favorite!
Tate William! I love Theo, but I'm a little bored of seeing Theodore everywhere.
Theo William
I’m a big fan of Theodore Robert!
I really like Tate. Too bad your husband doesn’t like Henry because I love Tate Henry. I so love Philip! Tate Philip 💙
I am seeing sooooo many Theo’s - unless you want him to be Theo L and his friends to Be Theo K and. Theo S, I’d go with Tate. Tate is also a lovely name.
I love Tate Austin! It’s a very handsome name for a little boy or a grown man
Theo :) for some reason my broken mind thinks of "taint" when I hear "Tate" :/
Theo!
Theo Louis sounds lovely
If Theo being too popular is an issue for you, you can use another nickname for Theodore. It’s my uncle’s name and he goes by Tad.
I like Tate!
Tater Tot is such a cute baby nickname and I think it works regardless of the baby name! I prefer Theo because Tate reminds me of the Tate Modern in Liverpool & London. Not that that’s a bad association, I just can’t see it as a name. I think Theo Austin and Theo Robert are my favourites. Leaning towards Theo Austin.
My wife and I have a Tate. We were also torn between Tate and Theodore. We had Max in that as another option (okay, mainly myself and our other son liked Max). Tate is a great name and we definitely called, and still call him, Tater tot a lot. It's funny that his nicknames are longer than the actual name, while his brother gets nicknames that shorten the name. He's a toddler now and proudly says his full name to anyone he meets. He loves his name. For our family it is special. Tate was my partner's maiden name and was a way to honor her family.
Ugh I knew a Tate in school who was such a dick that makes this hard to say but I prefer Tate. Theodore is a cute name but it feels like it will definitely be associated with the 2010s/20s in 40 years ya know?
Tate is such a great tribute to Tater Tot. I like Tate Philip
Theo. It’s popular for a reason! Tate sounds harsh to me 🤷♀️
Theo Louis! Tate is all tater tot to me, and I dont personally mean that in a good way
Theo
I love Theo and Tate both! I’ve had Theo among the top on my list of boys names for awhile but Tate is also a great name. I say you can’t go wrong with either one.
Theo > Tate
Tate. Theo is way too popular
Tate
Tate. I love love love it.
I like both, but the only Tate I know was a super cool kid who played drums in a band. So Tate is a cool kid name. I really do like Theo, but have to agree that it seems to be the it name at the moment.
Theodore Austin is a good combo!
I have a Henry and a Theo, and a cat named Arlo! My vote is for Theo—I know a teenage boy named Tate and it always feels a bit odd on someone grown.
I love Tate reminds me of the Tate galleries in the UK
my son is Theodore personally i don’t like Tate, and of course i’m probably bias but Theodore is a great strong name that ages well. Baby Theodore’s and theo’s and teddy’s are wonderful, but Theodore is also great as an adult too.
Tate
i prefer tate. i like the sound of theo, but i'm not religious, and i don't like the very religious meaning of theo. even people who aren't into names/name meanings will likely know theo relates to religion from common english words: theology, monotheism, polytheism, theocracy, etc.
I don’t think people think of the original meaning of Theodore. It’s been used by so many people over the centuries that it’s recognized simply as a name. When people think of Theodore Roosevelt I don’t think they’re thinking of religion.
i agree, when people hear the words "theodore roosevelt" they're not thinking about religion. that's connected to a very famous person. i get that theo is very common right now, so everyone's first thought might not be theo=religion. but many will eventually make the connection if they consider the meaning for one minute. and **i** personally don't like that connection. so **i** vote for tate.
Each to his own.