Theobald

Boys' name

People, tribe + bold, brave, through *Þeudubalþ

Theobald has been given to 10 babies in the U.S. since 1916. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1916, with 5 recorded.

Babies named Theobald, 1917

1 in 401,000

Theobald over time, 1880–2025

Boys

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Theobald: meaning, origin, and history

People, tribe + bold, brave, through *Þeudubalþ

Germanic languages

What Theobald means

Theobald belongs to the name family reached through Theobald → *Þeudubalþ. Its meaning is “people, tribe + bold, brave”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Old French Theobald, Tibaut; both ultimately derived from Proto-West Germanic *Þeudubalþ. Common in the Middle Ages under various spellings in the archaic pronunciation. After it became obsolete a spelling pronunciation took over. Doublet of Theudebald.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Theobald (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Theobald is used in English. Its origins include Germanic languages.

Theobald comes through Old French Theobald and Proto-West Germanic *Þeudubalþ.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Theudebald, Þēodbald and *Þeudubalþ.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Theobald is pronounced /ˈθiːoʊbɔɫd/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 10 boys were recorded with the name Theobald between 1916 and 1917. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1916; its best national rank was #4,459 in 1916.

How common is Theobald?

Theobald had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1917, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1917: 1 in 401,000; 5 of 2,006,698 births
Among boys only: 1 in 185,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 1917: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 278,189 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Theobald sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 1917 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 278,189 children born in 1917 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Theobald. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Theobalds were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Theobald was born before 1916 — so the typical Theobald is around 109 today.

Median birth year: 1916; About 109 years old
Biggest decade: 1910s; 100.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 100.0%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 0; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1910s — 100.0% of all recorded uses (10).

Is Theobald rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1916 (5)
Years since peak: 109; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Not enough data; Too few years
Best rank ever: #4,459; 1916

Theobald around the world

Where Theobald ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

France
1900–2025
#4,689
in 2025

Popularity data from Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.

Theobald by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #4,459; 1916
Peak year: 1916; 5 that year
First recorded: 1916
Last recorded: 1917
All-time count: 10
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Theobald

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Therald Theojames Therdore Theodosius Theophilos Thermond Theodin Therrell Theophus Theodies Theodia Theofanis Theofilos Theodorus Theartis Theodric Thelman Therion Therese Theodie Theldon Thearthur Therone Therrin

Sibling names for Theobald

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Era Leatha Leone Artie Alpha Hettie Cecil Ona

For a brother

Winfield Dorsey Isadore Aloysius Hyman Regis Sydney Meyer

Explore around Theobald

Top names of 1916, Theobald's peak year The 1910s in full Other names that peaked in 1916 Boys' names starting with T