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NameAlmanac

Timothy

Boys’ name Recorded 1880-2025

Timothy was given to 1,734 boys in 2025, #203 among boys’ names; 1,088,520 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).

An estimated 902,000 Americans named Timothy and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (83% of everyone recorded); the median is 52 years old and half are between 38 and 63.

Timothy is the #24 most common first name among living American men and boys, by this estimate.

Babies named Timothy each year, first recorded in 1880
Timothy, 1880-2025; highest in 1959.10k20k30k40k188019001920194019601980200020251959 peak: 30,862
Timothy, 1880-2025; highest in 1959.10k20k30k40k188019001920194019601980200020251959 peak: 30,862
Timothy, 1880-2025; highest in 1959.10k20k30k40k18801905193019551980200520251959 peak: 30,862
Timothy, 1880-2025; highest in 1959.10k20k30k40k18801930198020251959 peak: 30,862

Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).

Timothy or TimmothyNames of the 1950sNames in California

Births of Timothy by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.

What does Timothy mean?

Wiktionary, English section

Timothy is “a male given name from Ancient Greek of biblical origin, also borne by early Christian saints.” Its etymology gives the senses “to honour” (τῑμάω) and “god” (θεός).

From Middle French Timothée, from Latin Tīmotheus, from Ancient Greek Τῑμόθεος (Tīmótheos), from τῑμάω (tīmáō, “to honour”) + θεός (theós, “god”).

/ˈtɪməθi/

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary, entry Timothy (English), CC BY‑SA 4.0. Quoted from the entry; text after a cross-reference to another sense is left out.

Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).

How popular is Timothy?

#203 among boys’ names, 2025

Timothy fell from #147 in 2015 to #203 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 1.5 to 1.0 per 1,000.

30,862 babies in 1959, the peak

Timothy peaked in 1959, when 30,862 babies were given it (30,783 boys, #12 among boys’ names). The 1,734 births of 2025 are 6% of that peak.

Timothy by year
YearBirthsRankPer 1,000 boys
20251,734#2031.0
20241,721#2071.0
20231,747#2111.0
20221,848#2021.1
20211,923#1991.1
20202,011#1921.2
20192,092#1881.2
20182,356#1651.3
20172,420#1631.3
20162,674#1521.4
Every recorded year (146)
YearBirthsRankPer 1,000 boys
20152,802#1471.5
20143,012#1341.6
20133,068#1241.6
20123,123#1181.6
20113,233#1231.7
20103,454#1141.8
20093,773#1091.9
20084,095#1072.0
20074,437#992.1
20064,706#932.3
20055,034#842.5
20045,234#792.6
20035,487#762.8
20026,020#703.1
20016,423#673.3
20007,261#583.7
19997,593#494.0
19987,845#494.1
19978,502#434.5
19968,919#404.7
19959,788#405.1
199410,767#395.6
199311,640#385.9
199212,864#346.4
199114,154#327.0
199015,700#307.6
198916,427#288.2
198816,807#258.8
198717,398#269.3
198616,875#279.2
198517,140#269.3
198416,987#269.4
198316,363#269.1
198217,464#249.6
198118,228#2410.2
198019,146#2010.7
197919,077#1811.1
197819,597#1711.9
197717,977#1810.9
197616,620#2110.6
197515,947#2210.2
197415,890#2210.1
197316,036#2210.3
197217,605#2110.9
197120,089#2111.4
197022,422#2012.1
196923,358#1713.1
196826,496#1315.2
196728,587#1116.4
196628,923#1116.2
196528,334#1215.2
196428,090#1514.1
196327,187#1513.4
196227,111#1613.1
196128,253#1513.3
196030,498#1114.3
195930,783#1214.4
195828,797#1313.6
195724,733#1911.5
195623,288#1911.0
195520,738#2210.1
195417,427#268.5
195315,187#267.7
195214,167#277.3
195112,705#286.7
195010,499#325.9
19499,346#345.3
19488,043#384.6
19476,747#523.7
19465,152#603.2
19453,591#702.7
19442,754#922.0
19432,578#991.8
19422,275#1081.6
19411,632#1211.3
19401,385#1351.2
19391,066#1531.0
1938882#1670.80
1937674#1920.63
1936439#2530.42
1935371#2810.36
1934336#2960.33
1933346#2840.35
1932341#3010.33
1931344#3010.33
1930306#3160.28
1929292#3250.27
1928297#3270.27
1927325#3200.29
1926274#3510.25
1925319#3190.29
1924322#3240.28
1923325#3230.30
1922288#3500.26
1921249#3830.23
1920269#3660.25
1919249#3670.25
1918285#3410.28
1917260#3440.28
1916246#3400.28
1915253#3320.30
1914174#3550.27
1913160#3190.31
1912128#3350.30
191188#2800.39
191075#2800.39
190967#2780.41
190867#2600.43
190781#2280.55
190652#2780.39
190573#2260.55
190458#2530.45
190349#2650.41
190262#2310.51
190162#2200.58
190076#2290.51
189960#2180.56
189875#2000.61
189758#2310.51
189671#2130.59
189560#2280.51
189471#2040.61
189362#2200.55
189271#2070.58
189166#1900.65
189056#2230.50
188982#1660.74
188876#1990.63
188754#2160.53
188674#1810.67
188564#1990.59
188477#1830.67
188362#1920.59
188271#1870.62
188163#1850.63
188070#1830.63

Download Timothy’s births by year (CSV)

Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.

Is Timothy a boy’s or a girl’s name?

Timothy has been given almost only to boys: 4,328 girls in 146 years of records.

Girls and boys named Timothy: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.

How many people are named Timothy, and how old are they?

902,000 alive in 2026, estimated

That is 83% of the 1,088,520 Americans ever recorded as Timothy. The median Timothy alive today is 52 years old; half are between 38 and 63.

The 2020 Census counted 802,946 people named Timothy (727 women and girls, 802,219 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 940,474 born in the U.S. The Census count is 15% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.

Alive today, by age

100-1095
90-99249
80-898,380
70-7986,100
60-69217,000
50-59 (median)178,000
40-49166,000
30-39129,000
20-2962,700
10-1933,300
0-917,700

Alive today, by generation

By generation
GenerationBornAlive
Silent Generation1928-19456,230
Baby Boomers1946-1964260,000
Generation X1965-1980296,000
Millennials1981-1996226,000
Generation Z1997-201284,800
Generation Alpha2013-202529,200

An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.

Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).

Where are babies named Timothy born?

The states with the most babies named Timothy are California, New York and Ohio, with 22% of its births recorded by state since 1910.

States with the most births: girls and boys together; rank among boys’ names in the state in 2025
StateSince 1910Rank, boysvs. national
California86,962#2460.8×
New York76,122#2350.9×
Ohio72,526#2271.3×
Pennsylvania62,473#1391.1×
Illinois62,229#1901.1×
Michigan56,299#2081.2×
Texas44,780#2810.6×
Florida33,226#2540.9×
Indiana33,187#1841.2×
North Carolina33,068#1711.1×

Where Timothy is more common than its national share predicts

Relative to its national share, Timothy is most over-represented in Ohio: since 1910 it was given 1.3 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.

Ohio1.32×
Wisconsin1.25×
Minnesota1.23×
Michigan1.22×
West Virginia1.20×
Indiana1.18×
Kentucky1.17×
New Hampshire1.17×

Bars start at 1× (as often as the national share predicts).

States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Timothy with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.

Names spelled alike

Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 1,094,618 babies since 1880, Timothy is the most given (99% of them). In 2025 it was given to 1,734 of their 1,770 babies (98%), again the most given.

Timothy and the names spelled alike
NameSince 1880Births 2025Peak year
Timothy1,088,5201,7341959
Timmothy4,10871960
Timothey591under 51959
Timithy391under 51964
Timothee374292024
Timathy285under 51989
Tymothy273under 51994
Timouthy76under 51955

Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.

Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Timothy

Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.

NameRecorded1880-2025
Jeffrey983,099
Gregory714,753
Marc141,137
Michael4,448,633
Craig300,628
Kurt86,054

Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.

More about Timothy and names like it

  1. Compare Timothy and TimmothyBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
  2. The most given names of the 1950sTimothy peaked in 1959.
  3. California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Timothy since 1910.
  4. Ancient Greek namesWiktionary’s origin for Timothy: every such name, by how often it is given.
  5. The top names of 1959The year the most babies were named Timothy.
  6. The names of Generation XMost people named Timothy alive today were born 1965-1980.
  7. Names starting with TMost given first.

Compare Timothy with another name