Thelonious

Did you know?

A few things about Thelonious you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Thelonious

Thelonious Monk

American jazz pianist and composer (1917–1982)

Choose Thelonious and your child shares a first name with Thelonious Monk, an American jazz pianist and composer. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Thelonious, like who?” Thelonious Monk's Wikipedia article is available in 61 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Thelonious Monk on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: William P. Gottlieb / Adam Cuerden, Public domain (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 142,857 baby boys born in the US in 2025 was named Thelonious, 12 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Thelonious would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryThelonious first shows up in US birth records in 1960, the first year at least 5 babies got it. It has been in use for 65 years since.
• 🏆Best yearIts best year was 1965, when it reached #2,617.
• 🍂TrendThelonious has slipped 1,352 places over the last five years and now sits at #6,803. Good news if you want a familiar name that fewer kids will share.

About the name Thelonious

Thelonious is a boy name of Dutch origin. It has 10 letters and 4 syllables, starting with T and ending in “-ous”. US birth records list Thelonious for boys from 1960 to 2025, in 42 of those 66 years. Its best year was 1965, when it ranked #2,617 among boy names. In 2025 it ranked #6,803, with 12 babies.

Origin:Dutch names