Gender Feminine
Scripts Δωροθέα(Ancient Greek)
Pronounced Pron. do-ro-TEH-a(German) dawr-ə-THEE-ə(English)  [key·IPA]

Meaning & History

Feminine form of the Late Greek name Δωρόθεος (Dorotheos), which meant "gift of god" from Greek δῶρον (doron) meaning "gift" and θεός (theos) meaning "god". 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

VariantsDorothee(German) Dorothy, Dortha, Dorthy(English)
DiminutivesDora, Thea(German) Dora(Dutch) Dee, Dodie, Dolly, Dora, Dory, Dot, Dottie, Dotty, Thea(English)
Masculine FormDorotheos(Late 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)
User SubmissionsDóróthea, Dórothea

Popularity

People think this name is

classic   mature   formal   upper class   natural   wholesome   strong   refined   strange   complex   serious  

Name Days

Austria: February 6
Austria: June 25
Denmark: February 6
Germany: February 6

Images

Depiction of Saint Dorothea of Caesarea by Francisco de Zurbarán (1650)Depiction of Saint Dorothea of Caesarea by Francisco de Zurbarán (1650)

Categories

Sources & References

  1. Lexicon of Greek Personal Names, available from https://www.lgpn.ox.ac.uk/publications/.
Entry updated December 7, 2022