Christian names beginning with T

Meaning: Greek of contested etymology; possibly "harvester" or possibly "summer."

Figure: Multiple major saints: Teresa of Avila (Spanish mystic and Doctor of the Church); Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa).

Multiple major Teresas have shaped Catholic and broader Christian tradition. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) is the Spanish Carmelite mystic and Doctor of the Church, the author of The Interior Castle and The Way of Perfection. Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), founder of the Missionaries of Charity, was canonized in 2016. The Catholic calendar honors Teresa of Avila on October 15 and Teresa of Calcutta on September 5.

Meaning: Greek "gift of God" (feminine form of Theodore).

Figure: Multiple Byzantine and Orthodox saints; principally Empress Theodora (sixth century) and the Empress Theodora who restored icons (ninth century).

The feminine form of Theodore, the name Theodora was carried by multiple Byzantine empresses, two of whom are honored as saints in Orthodox tradition: Empress Theodora (c. 500-548), wife of Justinian; and Empress Theodora (early ninth century), the regent who restored the veneration of icons after the second iconoclast controversy. The name has been in continuous Orthodox use.

Meaning: Greek "gift of God" (theos + doron); etymologically related to Dorothy through the same Greek roots.

Figure: Multiple saints; principally Theodore the Studite (eighth-ninth century) in Orthodox tradition; multiple medieval Theodore saints in Catholic tradition.

Theodore is the Greek "gift of God," carried by multiple major saints across the centuries. In Orthodox tradition, Theodore the Studite (the great defender of icons in the eighth century) and Theodore of Tyron are principal figures. In Catholic tradition, multiple medieval Theodores are honored. The name has come back into substantial modern Christian use across English-speaking families.

Meaning: Greek (same as Teresa).

Figure: Saint Therese of Lisieux; Doctor of the Church (1873-1897).

Saint Therese of Lisieux ("The Little Flower") is the French Carmelite nun who died at age twenty-four after eight years in the cloister, whose Story of a Soul became one of the most widely-read Catholic devotional works of the twentieth century. Declared a Doctor of the Church in 1997. The Catholic calendar commemorates her on October 1.

Meaning: Aramaic "twin" (toma); the Greek New Testament also gives the Greek translation Didymos, "twin."

Figure: Apostle ("doubting Thomas"); also Thomas Aquinas, Thomas More, and other major saints.

Thomas is the apostle whose declared need to see and touch the risen Christ (John 20:24-29) and whose subsequent confession ("My Lord and my God!") have shaped Christian devotional tradition. Three other major Christian figures share the name: Thomas Aquinas (the great Dominican theologian); Thomas More (English chancellor and martyr); and Thomas à Kempis (author of The Imitation of Christ). The Catholic Church commemorates the apostle on July 3, Aquinas on January 28, and More on June 22.

Meaning: Greek "honoring God" (feminine of Timothy).

Figure: The feminine form of Timothy; rarely used historically but in some modern Christian use.

Timothea is the feminine form of Timothy ("honoring God" in Greek). Rare historically but in some modern Christian use, particularly in English-speaking Protestant families.

Meaning: Greek "honoring God" (timao + theos).

Figure: Companion of Paul; recipient of 1 and 2 Timothy; first bishop of Ephesus by tradition.

Timothy is the young companion of Paul named in Acts 16:1, the recipient of 1 and 2 Timothy in the New Testament, traditionally the first bishop of Ephesus. The Catholic and Anglican calendars commemorate him with Titus on January 26. The name has been in continuous Christian use.

Meaning: Latin of contested etymology; possibly "honored" or possibly from Etruscan roots.

Figure: Companion of Paul; recipient of the Letter to Titus; first bishop of Crete by tradition.

Titus is the Gentile companion of Paul mentioned in Galatians 2 and Corinthians, the recipient of the Pastoral Epistle to Titus, traditionally the first bishop of Crete. The Catholic and Anglican calendars commemorate him with Timothy on January 26. The name has been in some Christian use; modern usage is rare.

Meaning: Hebrew "the Lord is good."

Figure: Son of Tobit in the deuterocanonical book of Tobit; traveled with the archangel Raphael.

Tobias is the son of Tobit in the deuterocanonical book of Tobit (read as scripture in Catholic and Orthodox tradition; placed among the apocrypha in Protestant tradition). His travel with the disguised archangel Raphael, the healing of his father's blindness, and his marriage to Sarah make Tobit one of the most narratively rich of the deuterocanonical books. The name is in continuing Catholic use.