Theodora
Given name
Theodora (Greek: Θεοδώρα, Theodōra) is a feminine given name, the feminine version of Theodore, from the Greek θεός theos 'god' + δῶρον doron 'gift'. Theodora is first attested in Mycenaean Greek, written in the Linear B syllabic script, as 𐀳𐀃𐀈𐀨, te-o-do-ra. The name Dorothy (Greek: Δωροθέα, Dōrothea) contains the same word elements in reverse order. It was the name of several saints and queens, including Theodora, a 6th-century Byzantine empress honored as a saint in the early Christian Church. Teodora, a variant, is among the top 10 most popular names for girls born in Serbia between 2003 and 2005.
01Feminine variants
- Dievodora (Lithuanian)
- Bohdana (Ukrainian)
- Božidarka (Serbian)
- Dora (English, Indonesian, Spanish, Bulgarian)
- Théodore (French)
- Feodora, Fedora - Феодора, Федора (Russian)
- Tea, Teja (Finnish), German, Scandinavian, Slovenian, Croatian
- Teddi, Teddie, Teddy (English)
- Teodóra (Hungarian)
- Feodora, Theodora, Teodora (Indonesian)
- Teodora, Theodhora, Dhora (Albanian)
- Teodora/Теодора (Bulgarian, Macedonian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian)
- Teodora (Polish)
- Thea (English, German, Scandinavian)
- Theda (German)
- Todora/Todorka (Bulgarian, Macedonian)
- Θεοδώρα, Δώρα, Ντόρα (Greek)
- Tidora (Aramaic/Syriac)
- Tedora (in Eritrea)
02People
Pre-modern world
Byzantine empresses
- Theodora (wife of Justinian I) (c. 500-548), saint by the Orthodox Church
- Theodora of Khazaria, 7th-century empress, wife of Justinian II
- Theodora (wife of Theophilos), 9th-century empress, saint by the Orthodox Church
- Theodora (wife of Romanos I), 10th-century empress
- Theodora (daughter of Constantine VII), 10th-century empress, wife of John I Tzimiskes
- Theodora Porphyrogenita (c. 980-1056), empress regnant in 1042 and 1055-1056
- Theodora Palaiologina (Byzantine empress) (c. 1240-1303), wife of Michael VIII Palaiologos
Trebizonian empresses
- Theodora Axuchina, empress consort of Alexios I of Trebizond (c. 1182-1222)
- Theodora of Trebizond (before 1253-after 1285), empress regnant from 1284 to 1285
- Theodora Kantakouzene (c. 1240-after 1290), empress consort of Alexios III of Trebizond
- Theodora Kantakouzene (wife of Alexios IV of Trebizond) (died 1426), empress consort of Alexios IV of Trebizond
Others
- Theodora (Roman martyr) (died 120), Christian martyr and saint
- Theodora and Didymus (died 304), early Christian martyrs
- Flavia Maximiana Theodora (died before 337), known simply as Theodora, daughter of the Roman emperor Maximian and second wife of emperor Constantius I
- Theodora of Emesa, 5th-century Neoplatonist
- Theodora of Alexandria (died c. 490), Eastern Orthodox saint
- Episcopa Theodora, mother of Pope Paschal I in the 9th century
- Theodora (senatrix) (c. 870-916), Roman senatrix and mother of Marozia; concubine to Pope Sergius III
- Theodora Komnene (disambiguation), various women from the 11th to 15th centuries
- Theodora of Arta, 13th-century Empress of Epirus
- Theodora Tocco (died 1429), despoina consort of Constantine, Despot in Morea (later Constantine XI Palaiologos)
- Theodora of Sihla (c. 1650-?), Romanian Orthodox saint
- Theodora of Hesse-Darmstadt (fl. 1727), daughter of Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt and Duchess consort of Guastalla
Modern world
- Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark (1906-1969), daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark
- Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark (born 1983), daughter of Constantine II of Greece
- Princess Theodora of Liechtenstein (born 2004), Liechtensteiner environmentalist
- Dora Bakoyannis (born 1954), Greek politician
- Theo Burrell (1986-2026), British antiques specialist
- Theodora Goss (born 1968), Hungarian-born American novelist
- Theodora Keogh (1919-2008), American novelist
- Theodora Kroeber (1897-1979), American anthropologist
- Tonie Nathan (1923-2014), American media producer and political activist
- Theodora Sayn-Wittgenstein (born 1986), German aristocrat
- Theodora Skipitares, American interdisciplinary artist
- Theodora (singer), French-Congolese singer Lili Théodora Mbangayo Mujinga (born 2003)
03Fictional characters
- Theodora, the Wicked Witch of the West in the 2013 film Oz the Great and Powerful
- Theodora Baumgarten, the main character of the 2007 Connie Willis novella D.A.
- Theodora Crain, in the 2018 horror miniseries The Haunting of Hill House
- Theodora, a protagonist from the video game Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Theodora”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Meister von San Vitale in Ravenna 008.jpg by Meister von San Vitale in Ravenna, Public domain
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