Gender Feminine
Usage German, Dutch, English, Ancient Greek [1]
Scripts Pron. /do.ʁo.ˈteː.a/ (German) /doː.roː.ˈteː.aː/ (Dutch) /ˌdɔɹ.ə.ˈθi.ə/ (English) [key ·simplify]
Meaning & History
Feminine form of the Greek name [1] [2] [3] from Greek doron) meaning "gift" and theos) meaning "god" [4] [5] . The name Theodore is composed of the same elements in reverse order. Dorothea was the name of two early saints, notably the 4th-century martyr Dorothea of Caesarea. It was also borne by the 14th-century Saint Dorothea of Montau, who was the patron saint of Prussia.
Related Names
DiminutivesDora, Thea (German) Dora (Dutch) Dee, Dodie, Dolly, Dora, Dory, Dot, Dottie, Dotty, Thea (English)
Masculine FormDorotheos (Ancient Greek)
Other Languages & CulturesDoroteya, Dora (Bulgarian) Dorotea, Doroteja, Dora, Tea (Croatian) Dorota (Czech) Dorte, Dorthe, Dorthea, Ditte, Dorete, Dorit, Dorrit (Danish) Tiia, Tiiu (Estonian) Tea, Teija, Tiia (Finnish) Dorothée, Théa (French) Dorinda (Galician) Dorottya, Dóra, Dorina, Dorka (Hungarian) Dorotea, Dora, Doretta (Italian) Dārta, Dace (Latvian) Dorotėja, Urtė (Lithuanian) Dörthe (Low German) Doroteja (Macedonian) Dorthea (Norwegian) Dorota, Dosia (Polish) Doroteia, Dora (Portuguese) Dorotéia (Portuguese (Brazilian)) Doroteja, Dora (Serbian) Dorota (Slovak) Doroteja, Tea, Teja (Slovene) Dorotea, Dora, Dorita (Spanish) Dorotea, Thea (Swedish)
Popularity
People think this name is
classic mature formal upper class natural wholesome strong refined strange complex serious
Name Days
Images
Depiction of Saint Dorothea of Caesarea by Francisco de Zurbarán (1650)Depiction of Saint Dorothea of Caesarea by Francisco de Zurbarán (1650)
Sources & References
- Lexicon of Greek Personal Names, available from https://search.lgpn.ox.ac.uk/browse.html?facet-nymRef=Δωροθέα.
- Withycombe, Elizabeth Gidley. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names. Oxford, 1945, page 39.
- Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford, 1990, page 89.
- Liddell, Scott and Jones. An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, entry dw=ron, available from https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0058%3Aentry%3Ddw%3Dron.
- Liddell, Scott and Jones. An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, entry qeo/s, available from https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0058%3Aentry%3Dqeo%2Fs.
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Entry updated May 26, 2026