Ted

What Ted means

Form of Edward, meaning “wealth, riches + ward, guard”

form of Edward || From Middle English Edward, from Old English Ēadweard, from Proto-West Germanic *Audawardu, from Proto-Germanic *Audawarduz, corresponding to ed (“wealth, riches”) + ward (“ward, guard”), doublet of Eduard.

Source: Wiktionary, “Ted” (revision 94543998) and “Edward” (revision 94539043), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Ted?

US: Falling: down from #2565 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #150 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1933, when 1,040 boys got the name (#145 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 46,164 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,545 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 3,928 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in NY (0.07 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Ted is #3181 in the US and #262 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Ted were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Todd105 US · 17 E&W
• Tyde19 US · 6 E&W
• Tad11 US
• Tide8 US
• Tod5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Ted

Boys

• Jeremy#292Form of Jeremiah, meaning “Yahweh exalt”^*
• Mark#244Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1960, with 58,727 babies; 1,416 in 2025
• Edward#224“wealth, riches + ward, guard”^*
• Patrick#235“patrician”^*
• Robert#92“shining glory”^*
• Paul#262“small”^*

For a sister

• Amy#257“beloved”^*
• Mary#125Same root as Miriam, possibly meaning “bitter”^*
• Elizabeth#17“my God is an oath”^*
• Sara#198Variant of Sarah, meaning “masters, princes”^*
• Rachel#250“ewe”^*
• Ashley#164“ash tree + wood, clearing”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Ted’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.