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Timothy

Gender
Boy
Say it
TIM-o-thee
Origin
Greek
UK rank, 2025
#419 for boys
US rank, 2025
#203 for boys

Timothy is a boys' name of Greek origin, meaning “honouring God”. In 2025 it ranked 419th for boys in the UK (107 babies) and 203rd for boys in the US (1,734 babies).

What does Timothy mean?

Greek: from Timotheos

“honouring God”

Saint Timothy was a companion of Paul, who addressed two New Testament letters to him.

More on Wiktionary.

Is Timothy a girl's or a boy's name?

Timothy is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 107 boys in the UK and 1,734 boys in the US. Too few girls were given it to be listed.

How popular is Timothy in the UK?

Rank in 2025
419th among boys
Babies in 2025
107 about 1 in 2,800 boys
Five-year trend
Steady down 15% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1% chance among 15 boys

In 2025, 107 boys in the UK were named Timothy, making it the 419th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 395th. Its busiest year was 1996, with 708 boys.

2025 had the fewest boys named Timothy since the records began in 1996.

Half of all the boys named Timothy in the UK since 1996 were born between 1998 and 2013. It was already well used in 1996, when the records begin, so earlier boys aren't counted.

In 2025, 117 boys in the UK were given Timothy or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #403, up from #419 for this spelling alone.

Among boys in 2025, it was 418th in England and Wales, 647th in Scotland and 253rd in Northern Ireland.

In the England and Wales top 100 for boys, which the ONS has published every ten years since 1904: 1944 (#77), 1954 (#40), 1964 (#24), 1974 (#33), 1984 (#47) and 1994 (#76).

1996Busiest: 708 in 19962025
Timothy in the UK, year by year
YearBoysRank
2025107#419
2024118#398
2023114#399
2022110#421
2021126#392
2020125#395
2019150#343
2018123#395
2017153#353
2016179#317
2015145#357
2014187#290
2013166#303
2012178#293
2011170#301
2010163#303
2009173#288
2008170#281
2007193#245
2006196#228
2005213#209
2004191#215
2003212#196
2002269#159
2001316#144
2000376#129
1999445#122
1998507#113
1997595#97
1996708#88

How popular is Timothy in the US?

Rank in 2025
203rd among boys
Babies in 2025
1,734 about 1 in 980 boys
Five-year trend
Steady down 19% in five years
Same name in a class
1.4% chance among 15 boys

In 2025, 1,734 boys in the US were named Timothy, making it the 203rd most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 192nd. Its busiest year was 1959, with 30,783 boys.

Half of all the boys named Timothy in the US since 1880 were born between 1960 and 1985, the years shaded on the chart below.

1880Busiest: 30,783 in 19592025
Timothy in the US, year by year
YearBoysRank
20251,734#203
20241,721#206
20231,747#211
20221,848#202
20211,923#198
20202,011#192
20192,092#188
20182,356#165
20172,420#163
20162,674#152
20152,802#147
20143,012#134
20133,068#124
20123,123#118
20113,233#123
20103,454#114
20093,773#109
20084,095#107
20074,437#99
20064,706#93
20055,034#84
20045,234#79
20035,487#76
20026,020#70
20016,423#67
20007,261#58
19997,593#49
19987,845#49
19978,502#43
19968,919#40
19959,788#40
199410,767#39
199311,640#38
199212,864#34
199114,154#32
199015,700#30
198916,427#28
198816,807#25
198717,398#26
198616,875#27
198517,140#26
198416,987#26
198316,363#26
198217,464#24
198118,228#24
198019,146#20
197919,077#18
197819,597#17
197717,977#18
197616,620#21
197515,947#22
197415,890#22
197316,036#22
197217,605#21
197120,089#21
197022,422#20
196923,358#17
196826,496#13
196728,587#11
196628,923#11
196528,334#12
196428,090#15
196327,187#15
196227,111#16
196128,253#15
196030,498#11
195930,783#12
195828,797#13
195724,733#19
195623,288#19
195520,738#22
195417,427#26
195315,187#26
195214,167#27
195112,705#28
195010,499#32
19499,346#34
19488,043#38
19476,747#52
19465,152#60
19453,591#70
19442,754#92
19432,578#99
19422,275#108
19411,632#121
19401,385#135
19391,066#153
1938882#167
1937674#192
1936439#253
1935371#281
1934336#295
1933346#283
1932341#299
1931344#301
1930306#316
1929292#324
1928297#326
1927325#319
1926274#351
1925319#319
1924322#324
1923325#323
1922288#350
1921249#383
1920269#365
1919249#366
1918285#340
1917260#344
1916246#339
1915253#332
1914174#353
1913160#317
1912128#334
191188#279
191075#279
190967#275
190867#257
190781#227
190652#273
190573#224
190458#249
190349#263
190262#229
190162#218
190076#228
189960#216
189875#199
189758#222
189671#211
189560#227
189471#204
189362#219
189271#205
189166#188
189056#221
188982#166
188876#197
188754#210
188674#181
188564#199
188477#181
188362#190
188271#186
188163#184
188070#180

Nicknames for Timothy

Names like Timothy

Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.

Anthony, Christopher, Nicholas, Michael, Jason, Patrick, Toby, Daniel, David, Andrew, Matthew, Alexander

Other spellings of Timothy

Timothee

Names related to Timothy

Timotei, Timoteo, Timmothy, Tymothy

More Greek names

Luca, Theodore, Sophia, George, Theo, Lucas, Sofia, Sebastian, Penelope, Phoebe, Margot, Luke, Chloe, Sophie, Zoe, Iris

Every Greek name

Sources

Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.

To cite this page: Nameling, “Timothy: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/timothy, updated 20 October 2026.