Theodore Family History

French and Mauritian (Théodore); West Indian (in Haiti, Martinique, and Guadeloupe Théodore); English and Welsh: from a personal name derived from Greek Theodōros, a compound of theos ‘God’ + dōron ‘gift’, which was relatively popular in the Middle Ages because of its auspicious meaning.

The name was borne by several early Christian saints. There was considerable confusion with the ancient Germanic name Theodoric (see Terry).

In Wales, the personal name Theodore was also adopted as an approximation to the Welsh name Tewdwr (see Tudor).

In North America, this surname has absorbed various other European cognates and their derivatives, e.g., Greek Theodorakis, Macedonian Todorovski, and Serbian Todorović (see Todorovic).