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Ted

Say it: TED/tɛd/

BoyMeans short for Edward, Edmund or Theodore3 letters1 syllable

#170

in Ireland (2025)

#168 with spellings combined

29

babies in 2025

#92

best rank (2021)

582

babies since 1999

Up 42

10-year rank change

Ted through the years

Compare with another name →
Ted: babies per year in Ireland, 1964 to 2025020406080196419701980199020002010202020251998: CSO series changePeak 2021: 70
Ted: rank per year in Ireland, 1964 to 2025#1#10#50#100#250#500#1000196419701980199020002010202020251998: CSO series change
Ted: per 10,000 boys per year in Ireland, 1964 to 20250102030196419701980199020002010202020251998: CSO series change
Babies per 10,000 boys listed by the CSO that year, which evens out changes in the number of births.
Show the numbers
YearBabies (boys)Rank
202529#168
202461#92
202342#131
202255#115
202170#92
202043#139
201939#149
201836#164
201714#305
201630#190
201526#210
201422#246
201326#219
201212#336
201119#263
20108#422
20097#429
20084#601
20079#342
20064#492
20058#302
20046#352
20034#423
20025#348
19993#379

Source: CSO, Irish Babies' Names (VSA50, VSA60), CC BY 4.0.

★ What does Ted mean?

Short for Edward, Edmund or Theodore

English pet form of Edward, Edmund, Theodore and similar names.

Say it right

TED

The story of Ted

Ted is a pet form of several names, most often Edward and Theodore, and also Edmund and Thaddeus. Edward is an Old English name built from words for wealth and guardian, while Theodore is Greek for “gift of God”. So Ted has no single meaning of its own. It takes its meaning from whichever longer name stands behind it.

Ted and Teddy were long used mainly as nicknames. The teddy bear was named after the American president Theodore Roosevelt. In Ireland the name belongs above all to Father Ted, the 1990s television comedy about three priests on Craggy Island.

Ted is now given as a full name. It first reached three or more boys in Ireland in 1999 and has grown since, with its best year in 2021, when 70 boys were named Ted and it reached number 92 combined. The numbers have bounced around since, from 61 boys in 2024 to 29 boys in 2025.

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Sources
  • Wiktionary: Ted (English proper noun)
  • Wikipedia: Ted (given name)
  • CSO VSA50, Boys Names in Ireland with 3 or More Occurrences
  • NISRA, Baby Names in Northern Ireland

At a glance

Similar names

TeddyNedFredAlfie

Sibling ideas

NellIvyElsie

Nicknames

Teddy

Spellings counted here

Spelling2025All years
Ted29582

In Northern Ireland

#270 in 2025 with 6 babies. Best rank #158 (2021); 102 babies since 2012.

Source: NISRA, Open Government Licence.

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