boy's name
Ted
TED
- Origin English
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 1
- Letters 3
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 82,255
Ireland
#172
2025 births
Ted is a boy's name that serves two unrelated names at once, and it exists because medieval English moved the n from "mine Edward." It ranks 172nd in Ireland and 262nd in England and Wales.
- Ted is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1958, when 1,748 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 89,606 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Ted over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 143 |
| 1890s | 247 |
| 1900s | 947 |
| 1910s | 3,551 |
| 1920s | 6,927 |
| 1930s | 10,575 |
| 1940s | 13,052 |
| 1950s | 14,739 |
| 1960s | 13,565 |
| 1970s | 5,462 |
| 1980s | 3,018 |
| 1990s | 1,586 |
| 2000s | 764 |
| 2010s | 610 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 238 |
What Ted means
Ted means rich guardian if it stands for Edward, or gift of God if it stands for Theodore. The two names are unconnected — one Old English, one Greek — and Ted has served both for centuries.
Where Ted comes from
Ted comes from Edward by the same medieval habit that gave Nell from Ellen: mine Edward was reanalyzed as my Nedward, giving Ned, and Ted followed as a rhyming variant of Ned. That is why a name beginning with E produces short forms beginning with N and T. Edward is the Old English Eadweard — ead, wealth or fortune, and weard, a guardian — and is one of very few Anglo-Saxon names to survive the Norman conquest, kept alive by the cult of Edward the Confessor. Ted also serves Theodore, from the Greek theos, God, and doron, a gift, which reached English separately. Theodore Roosevelt supplied the teddy bear in 1902, after he refused to shoot a captive bear on a hunt.
Ted in use
Ted ranks 172nd in Ireland with 29 births in 2025 and 262nd in England and Wales with 176 births, and it is stable in our data with a peak in 1958. Our records carry it from 1880. It is very rare in the United States at 3,192nd, where Teddy and Theodore carry the demand — and in Ireland the Irish-spelled Teidí ranks separately at 99th, well above Ted itself.
How popular is Ted?
In 2025, Ted was given to 37 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Ted is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Ted
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Ted also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Ted over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Ted in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Polish
- Edward
Sibling names for Ted
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Ted — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Ted
What does the name Ted mean?
Rich guardian if it stands for Edward; gift of God if it stands for Theodore. The two names are unrelated.
Why is Ted short for Edward?
"Mine Edward" was reanalyzed as "my Nedward," giving Ned — and Ted followed as a rhyming variant.
Is the teddy bear named after Theodore?
After Theodore Roosevelt, who refused to shoot a captive bear on a hunt in 1902.
How popular is Ted?
172nd in Ireland and 262nd in England and Wales.
Is Ted a girl's or a boy's name?
Ted is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Ted?
Ted has 1 syllable.
Is Ted a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Ted currently ranks #172 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.