While malcolm-jamal warner, the actor who portrayed him on the cosby show, went on to many other roles and proved himself to be a versatile performer, he will forever be. ThΓ©o is a french form of the name theo, which is a short variant of names beginning with theo-, especially of theodor (of ancient greek origin) and theobald (of old high german origin). Many names beginning with the root theo- derive from the ancient greek word theos (ΞΈΞ΅ΟŒΟ‚), which means god, [1] for example: