Theophilus

Where Theophilus comes from

From Middle English Theophilus, from Latin Theophilus, from Ancient Greek Θεόφιλος (Theóphilos), meaning "love of God" or "friend of God".
— Wiktionary's entry for Theophilus
  • Latin
  • 4 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1841
    Theophilus Van Kannel born
    American engineer
  2. 1882
    First appearance
    #943 among boys, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  3. 1885
    Peak, #936
    5 babies named Theophilus — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1886
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births.
  5. 1898
    Theophilus Ebenhaezer Dönges born
    former elected State President of South Africa who died before being able to take office
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Latin [in turn from Ancient Greek]; rare in English.
Namesakes
  • Theophilus Ebenhaezer Dönges · former elected State President of South Africa who died before being able to take office, 1898–1968
  • Theophilus Van Kannel · American engineer, 1841–1919
  • Theophilus Siegfried Bayer · German sinologist, 1694–1738
  • Theophilus London · American rapper and singer, born 1987
  • Theophilus Shepstone · British South African statesman, 1817–1893

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.