MEANING & HISTORY
What does Theodora mean?
Theodora is the Greek feminine counterpart of Theodore. Its components are theos, god, and doron, gift, the same vocabulary found in Dorothea in reversed order.
The name belongs to an established ancient compound family rather than an interpretation based on its English sound. Byzantine empresses, including Justinian’s wife Theodora, are important historical bearers. Their royal status is a cultural association; queen or empress is not an additional literal element in the name.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
EnglishEtymology & source
From the Ancient Greek feminine form of Theodore.
A female given name from Ancient Greek, most famously borne by two empresses of Byzantium.
Wiktionary: Theodora (English) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
Use in Philippine-linked records
Public-record transcription
1
eligible source records · 2001
This spelling is reported in an openly licensed transcription of elected-candidate records. This is a record count, not a birth count or national popularity measure.
OpenHalalan / COMELEC ↗PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Theodora in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Theodora
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Teodora♀Gift of God
- Theodore♂Gift of God
- Leonora♀Short form of Eleonora
- Thea♀Short form of Dorothea or Theodora
- Thelma♀Literary name associated with Greek will
- Theresa♀From Teresa, earlier recorded as Therasia
- Aurora♀Dawn
- Cora♀Maiden; Latinized form of Greek Kore
What rhymes with Theodora?
Matches share a dictionary-supplied rhyme key in the stated language. Check the recorded reading; another language or accent can change the rhyme.
- CoraEnglish · /-ɔːɹə/
- FloraEnglish · /-ɔːɹə/
- LauraEnglish · /-ɔːɹə/
- LeonoraEnglish · /-ɔːɹə/
- NoraEnglish · /-ɔːɹə/
Names with a similar written ending
Spelling suggestions; these are not verified phonetic rhymes.
Explore Theodora further
Follow the sources
- OpenHalalan — pinned 2001 COMELEC transcription (opens in a new tab)
Source-reported given-name form in a row with a separate explicit middle initial; ODbL-1.0.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- Wiktionary contributors — Theodora (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Behind the Name — Theodora (opens in a new tab)
Consulted account of the name’s formation, relevant root elements, or explicitly linked base name.
- Behind the Name — Theodore (opens in a new tab)
Consulted account of the name’s formation, relevant root elements, or explicitly linked base name.