boy's name
Todd
TOD
- Origin English
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 1
- Letters 4
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 286,383
Northern Ireland
#368
2005 births
Todd is a boy's name from a northern English dialect word for a fox, given as a nickname to someone crafty or red-haired. It peaked in 1964 and charts in two markets, which sit within twenty-four places of each other.
- Todd is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1964, when 15,397 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 31,576 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1881.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Todd 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 | 18 |
| 1900s | 23 |
| 1910s | 112 |
| 1920s | 228 |
| 1930s | 398 |
| 1940s | 2,169 |
| 1950s | 18,618 |
| 1960s | 129,151 |
| 1970s | 83,705 |
| 1980s | 30,523 |
| 1990s | 11,631 |
| 2000s | 4,122 |
| 2010s | 2,006 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 686 |
What Todd means
Todd means a fox. The northern English dialect word names the animal directly, and as a byname it described either cunning or, from the animal's coat, red hair.
Where Todd comes from
Todd is the northern English and Scots dialect word tod, a fox, which is still in use in Scotland and the north of England — a tod-hunter was a fox-hunter, and the surname Todhunter preserves it. Its origin before that is uncertain. As a byname it worked the way animal nicknames usually did, describing someone as crafty or, given the fox's coat, red-haired. It became a hereditary surname and then, in twentieth-century America, a given name. Sweeney Todd is fictional and first appears in a penny dreadful of 1846.
Todd in use
Todd peaked in the United States in 1964, when 15,397 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now charts in three of the seven markets we track — 1595th in England and Wales on 17 births, 1619th in the United States on 105 and 2500th in Canada — across 286,383 lifetime births. Its two positions sit within twenty-four places of each other, which is an unusually close match across markets of very different size.
How popular is Todd?
In 2025, Todd was given to 105 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Todd 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 Todd
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Todd also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Todd over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Todd 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.
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Tod
Sibling names for Todd
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Todd — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Todd
What does the name Todd mean?
A fox — from the northern English and Scots dialect word tod, still in use today.
Why would a name mean fox?
It was a nickname for someone crafty, or for a red-haired person, from the animal's coat.
Is Todhunter related?
Yes — a todhunter was a fox-hunter, preserving the same dialect word.
How popular is Todd?
1619th in the United States and 1595th in England and Wales.
Is Todd a girl's or a boy's name?
Todd is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Todd?
Todd has 1 syllable.
Is Todd a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Todd currently ranks #1,595 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.