Thomas. Where does it come from? What does it stand for? All I know is it was a name that my parents chose for me. I didn’t have much say in it and lived with it ever since.

But what does it mean? Interesting question so I did some research.

It has Aramaic origin and is said to mean “a twin” (John’s gospel refers to Thomas as ho legomenos didymos “called the twin;” compare Syriac toma “twin,” Arabic tau’am “twin”). Before the Conquest, found only as the name of a priest, but after 1066, one of the most common given names in English.

Is It Popular?

Various historical figures such as Thomas Aquinas and Thomas Jefferson have borne the name. This list of people with given name Thomas contains others.

Thomas was a popular name throughout medieval Europe. In Britain, the name was rare prior to the Norman Conquest (11th century CE), but by the 13th and 14th centuries, it had become common. In 2017 it ranked 13th in popularity in the United Kingdom with 3,246 babies given the name.

The Social Security Administration lists the name Thomas as the ninth most popular name in the United States over the past 100 years. In 2017 it ranked 48th in popularity with 7,131 babies given the name.

Other Languages

What does Thomas look like in other languages?

• Afrikaans: Thomas
• Albanian: Tom, Thoma, Thomas
• Alemmanic: Thömu, Thömus, Thömi
• Amharic: ቶማስ (Tomas)
• Arabic: توماس (Tūmās)
• Aragonese: Tomás
• Armenian: Թովմաս (Tʿovmas)
• Basque: Tomas
• Bavarian: Douma, Dammal, Dammerl
• Belarusian: Фама́ (Famá)
• Breton: Tomaz
• Bulgarian: Тома́ (Tomá)
• Catalan: Tomàs
• Chinese: 汤姆 (Tāngmǔ), 托马斯 (Tuōmǎsī)
• Cornish: Tommas
• Czech: Tomáš
• Danish: Thomas
• Dutch: Thomas, Thom
• English: Thomas, Tom
• Estonian: Toomas
• Faroese: Tummas
• Finnish: Tuomas, Tommi, Toimi
• Flemish: Thom, Thomas
• French: Thomas
• Frisian: Tomas
• Friulian: Tomâs
• Galician: Tomé
• German: Thomas, Tomas, Tom
• Georgian: თომა (Toma), თომას (Tomas)
• Greek: Θωμάς (Thomás)
• Hawaiian: Koma, Kamaki
• Hebrew: תאום (Ta’om), תאומא (Tomas)
• Hungarian: Tamás
• Icelandic: Tómas
• Irish: Tomás, Tomáisín
• Italian: Tommaso, Tomaso, Tom(m)asino
• Japanese: トーマス (Tōmasu), トム (Tomu)
• Korean: 도마 (Doma), 톰 (Tom)
• Latin: Thōmās
• Latvian: Tomass, Tomas, Toms
• Lithuanian: Tomas
• Lombard: Tomàs
• Macedonian: Тома (Toma)
• Maltese: Tumas
• Malayalam: Toma
• Manx: Thomaase
• Maori: Tāmati
• Meitei (officially called Manipuri): ꯊꯣꯃꯁ (Thōmas), ꯊꯣꯃꯥꯁ (Thōmās)
• Norwegian: Thomas, Tomas
• Occitan: Tomàs
• Persian: توما (Tumâ), توماس‎ (Tumâs)
• Polish: Tomasz
• Portuguese: Tomé, Tomás
• Romanian: Toma
• Romansh: Tumasch
• Russian: Фома (Foma)
• Sardinian: Tommasu
• Scottish Gaelic: Tòmas
• Serbo-Croatian: Тома/Toma, Томаш/Tomaš
• Sicilian: Tumasi
• Slovak: Tomáš, Thomas
• Slovene: Tomaž
• Spanish: Tomás
• Swedish: Thomas, Tomas
• Tamil: தாமஸ் (Tāmas), தோமா (Tōmā)
• Telugu: థామస్ (Thāmas)
• Tigrinya: ቶማስ (Tomas)
• Turkish: Tomas
• Syriac Aramaic: ܬܐܘܡܐ (Toma)
• Ukrainian: Хома (Homa), Тома (Toma)
• Vietnamese: Tâm (Tom)
• Walloon: Toumas
• Welsh: Tomos, Twm