Timothy

Where the name comes from

• Ancient Greek
  From "honor" + "god". Read as "honoring God" (Online Etymology Dictionary; Blue Letter Bible outline) or as "dear to God" (Strong's).
  Timotheos, from timē / timaō "honor, I honor" + theos "god"
  Came into English from Greek Timotheos through Latin Timotheus and French Timothée. "Honoring God" and "dear to God" are two readings of the same compound, not competing origins.

Timothy across traditions

• Christian (New Testament). Timothy of Lystra, companion and fellow worker of the apostle Paul. Thayer describes his father as Greek and his mother as Jewish. He is the addressee of the two New Testament letters to Timothy.
• Catholic and Orthodox sainthood. Tradition makes Saint Timothy the first bishop of Ephesus and a martyr. His feast is January 24 in the West and January 22 in the East. DMNES also records a 4th-century martyr and a 5th-century saint of the name.
• European vernaculars. The Wycliffite Bible (1395) writes Timothe and Tymothe. Timothie appears in England in 1541. Finnish/Swedish records have Timosk (1548) and the short forms Timo and Timå. French records have Timothée (1565), Thimotée and Thimothée.
• American English. Timothy grass (recorded 1736) is the American name for cat-tail grass. The name is "said to be" after one Timothy Hanson, who promoted it in the Carolinas. That explanation dates only to 1764 and is a tradition, not a confirmed fact.
• United States (SSA). 1,017,732 combined US births, 1950s–2010s. Peak decade: the 1960s, at #13 among boys (276,837). By decade: 1950s #22, 1960s #13, 1970s #21, 1980s #26, 1990s #38, 2000s #82, 2010s #140.

Who carried it

• Saint Timothy (Died 97 (about 1,930 years ago)): Born at Lystra in Lycaonia; disciple of Paul. By tradition the first bishop of Ephesus and martyred under the emperor Nerva.

Forms in other languages

Timotheus, Timotheos, Timothée, Timo, Tim

Timothy in letter-number systems

Hebrew, Greek and other traditions gave every letter a number, and read meaning into the totals. These are the counts, computed; the readings are inside the Innerverse.