Will Theo go the way of Oscar?

[EmilyGilmore]

I know it's "on the up" but do you think it will become like Oscar - ten a penny and (that great MN fear) straddling the classes

What on earth could be the problem with spanning the classes?

I agree that a name 'spanning the classes' is a good thing.

Theo and Oscar are just nice normal regular names. I like both.

Theodore nn Ted is nicer though. Theo always reminds me of that old advert Triiioo Triioooo I wanna Trio and I want one now

Yes, I think it's getting very popular and, as the mother of yet another Theodore (but we call him Ted/Teddy), I think Theodore is getting relatively common too. I say all this never having met another one in real life, though the name stats bear it out, with Theo breaking the top 50 last year and Theodore hovering somewhere in the 120s.

I think the main point is that, like Oscar, Theo doesn't have a strong history of usage here but is riding a wave of popularity just now and so is pretty noticeable, in a way that the popularity of (say) Matthew isn't. The fact that it isn't part of the naming furniture in this country no doubt explains its current appeal as a 'modern'-sounding name.