Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) might be viewed as the womanizer on How I Met Your Mother, but Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) was also a serial dater. The CBS sitcom followed the character detailing the events of his life before he met the mother of his two children. Before Tracy McConnell (Cristin Milioti), a.k.a. the "Mother," Ted dated a long list of women in a relatively short time period.
Ted was a hopeless romantic since he was always on the chase in finding "the one." As seen in the How I Met Your Mother pilot, he became a little too eager in his feelings for Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders), saying "I love you" during their first date. Though that ended up being true decades later in the divisive series finale, Ted still set out on a long journey in finding the true love of his life. During his romantic discoveries, Ted found a few diamonds in the rough, but he also met many mismatches.
Over the course of How I Met Your Mother's 208 total episodes, Ted dated 59 women before meeting Tracy. Technically, this number could be even higher when taking into account the unnamed women referenced in the series. Only characters with first names encompass the near five dozen total. The women on the list either directly appeared in the series or were mentioned as Ted's previous date/girlfriend. Here's a list of Ted's most memorable female companions, as well as a list of dates, including which season they were introduced.
A Breakdown Of The Women Ted Mosby Dated Before The Mother
Over How I Met Your Mother's nine seasons, Ted had a number of serious relationships before he met Tracy, including:
- Karen (Laura Prepon) - Ted's on-again-off-again girlfriend from high school and college whom he briefly got together with in season 4.
- Victoria (Ashley Williams) - Ted's serious girlfriend from season 1 whom he reconnected with during season 7.
- Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders) - A potential love interest for Ted since the pilot episode although the two didn't officially start dating until season 2. After going down different paths romantically, they found their way back to one another in the series finale.
- Stella Zinman (Sarah Chalke) - Ted's girlfriend in season 3 before eventually becoming his fiancé; she left him for her ex-husband the following season.
- Zoey Pierson (Jennifer Morrison) - George Van Smoot's ex-wife and Ted's enemy who later turned into his romantic interest in season 6.
Ted also had a number of girlfriends, casual dates, and hookups:
- Alexa Leskys - season 3
- Alison Moses - season 2
- Amanda - season 5
- Amy - season 3
- Angie - season 4
- Ashlee - season 3
- Becky - season 6
- Carla - season 2
- Carly Whittaker - season 8
- Carol a.k.a. "Blah Blah" - season 3
- Cassie - season 9
- Cathy - season 3
- Cheryl - season 2
- Cindy - season 5
- Claire - season 7
- Emily - season 5
- Henrietta - season 5
- Holly - season 7
- Honey - season 6
- Isabelle - season 5
- Jackie - season 1
- Janet McIntyre - season 7
- Janine - season 2
- Jeanette - season 8
- Jeannie Radford - season 2
- Jen - season 5
- Jessica - season 7
- Kelly - season 1
- Lauren Stein - season 2
- Leilani - season 5
- Lindsay - season 3
- Lizbeth - season 7
- Louisa Mendoza - season 4
- Margaret - season 4
- Marissa Heller - season 5
- Mary - season 1
- Marybeth - season 1
- Melissa - season 4
- Molly - season 2
- Naomi a.k.a. "The Slutty Pumpkin" - season 7
- Natalia - season 5
- Natalie - season 1
- Penelope - season 6
- Rachel - season 3
- Randi - season 7
- Robyn - season 7
- Royce - season 5
- Stacey Gusar - season 3
- Steph - season 1
- Strawberry - season 5
- Tabatha - season 8
- Tiffany - season 5
- Trudy - season 1
- Vicky - season 4
While Ted's list is quite extensive, his 59 romantic partners breaks down to about 6.5 per year over the course of How I Met Your Mother's 9 seasons.