A male first name, of Germanic origin, has only been given to three little boys in France since 1980 according to INSEE data. However, this same name resonated on the battlefields of late Antiquity and in the palaces of Gothic kings. Behind this discretion in civil status hides a name loaded with power, long reserved for leaders and warriors.
This first name is Theodoricalso written
Theodoric. It comes from the Germanic roots theud, “people”, and ric, “powerful” or “king”, which gives the idea of ”king of the people”. The Gothic form Þiudareiks, goes in the same direction with the meaning of leader of the people. We are far from a simple rare first name: it is a chef’s title.
A first name Theodoric almost impossible to find in France
Still based on INSEE statistics, only three births bearing the first name Theodoric have been recorded since 1900 in France, all in 1980. The year 1980 is the only small peak and no births have been counted in 2024. Concretely, the probability of coming across a French Theodoric remains almost zero.
This contrast is striking when we compare it to Thierry, a French form from the same Germanic background, which was a common first name in the 20th century according to INSEE. Theodoric keeps his very old spelling, sometimes considered too medieval or difficult to pronounce. Some sites also link it to a Greek origin close to Theodore, which creates confusion and does not help it exist as a first name in its own right.
Gothic origins: Theodoric, the leader of the people
Theodoric is an ancient Frankish and Ostrogothic name formed from “people” and “powerful”, associated very early with figures of power. The Latinized Theodoricus version appears frequently in medieval texts. The Gothic form Þiudareiks means leader of the people, which gives this first name an almost political dimension, well before the letter.
From a cultural point of view, this same trunk gave several variants: Dietrich in German, Thierry in French. This relationship explains why the sound of Theodoric seems familiar without the first name itself circulating. Where the short variants adapted to modern languages, Theodoric remained attached to an imagery of vanished knights and kingdoms.
Gothic kings named Theodoric
Wikipedia lists several Gothic kings with this name. Theodoric I reigned over the Visigoths from 418 to 451 and died on June 20, 451. His successor Theodoric II, also king of the Visigoths, reigned from 453 to 466 before being assassinated in 466. A little later, Theodoric the Greatking of the Ostrogoths, took power in Italy from 493 and died in Ravenna on August 30, 526. For French parents today, choosing Theodoric therefore amounts to exhuming an almost forgotten royal name.