Thomas - Meaning of Thomas

What does Thomas mean?

[ 2 syll. (t)ho-mas, th-om-as ] The baby boy name Thomas is pronounced as TAAM-ahS or TOWM-ahS (English), TOW-MaaS (Dutch, German), Tow-MAE (French), or -THow-MAAS (Greek) †. Thomas is used chiefly in the Dutch, English, French, German, and Scandinavian languages, and it is derived from Aramaic origins. A biblical name, it is from the element 'teoma' meaning twin. The name is derived via Didymos (Old Greek) from the byname Teoma (Aramaic). The name was borne by several characters in the Bible, notably the apostle Thomas who had a twin brother; he was originally called Judas but was given a new name to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot.

The name was in medieval times often given to Christians in honor of the apostle. It was borne by a number of saints, including Saint Thomas Becket (1118-1170), the archbishop of Canterbury martyred under King Henry II, the philosopher and theologian Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), and Saint Thomas More, an English humanist scholar martyred for opposing King Henry VIII. The commonality of the name is reflected in the use of the phrase 'Tom, Dick and Harry' as a reference for anyone. The name Tommy is also used as a generic name for British soldiers, commonly believed to originate from Private Thomas Atkins, a brave solider at the Battle of Boxtel in 1794 whose death was witnessed by the Duke of Wellington. The name Thomasina (English) is the female form of Thomas.

What are the Variant Forms of Thomas?





Thomas is a widely used name; it has 79 variants that are used in English and other languages. Variants used in English include Massey, Tamasine, Tamati, Tameas, Tamhas, Tammany, Tammen, Tamnais, Thomason, Thomaz, Thomeson, Thomison, Thomkins, Thommas, Thompson, Thomsen, Thomson, Thomy, Tip, Tomah, Tomaisin, Tomás (used in Czech, Gaelic, Irish, Lithuanian, Portuguese, and Spanish as well), Tome (used in Portuguese as well), Tomik, Tomkin, Tomkins, Tomlin, Tomlinson, Tomm, and Tommas. Other English variants include the short forms Tam (used in Scottish as well), Thom (used in Dutch and as well), and Tom (used in French, German, and Hebrew as well), and the pet forms Tammy (used in Scottish as well), Thommy (used in French, German, and Hebrew as well), Tomie, Tommie (used in Hebrew as well), and Tommy (used in Hebrew as well).

Foreign variants of Thomas include Foma (Russian and Slavic), Fomka (Russian), Komaki (Hawaiian), Masaccio (Italian), Maso (Italian), Slawek (Polish), Tamas (Hungarian), Tamás (Hungarian and Spanish), Tavis (Scottish), Tavish (Irish and Scottish), Tàmhas (Gaelic and Scottish), Tevin (Scottish), Tevis (Scottish), Tevish (Scottish), Thoma (German), Thumas (French), Toma (Romanian and Slavic), Tomas (German, Portuguese, Scandinavian, and Spanish), Tomaso (Italian), Tomasso (Italian), Tomasz (Polish), Tomcio (Polish), Tomek (Polish), Tomelis (Lithuanian), Tomeo (Italian), Tomi (Hungarian), Tomislaw (Polish), Tommaso (Italian), Tomos (Welsh), and Toomas (Estonian). Specific foreign variants include the short form Maas (Dutch), and the pet forms Chumo (Spanish) and Tomey (Irish).

See also the related form, Macy (English).

See also the related categories, soldiers (warrior), king, medieval, martyred (death), english, aramaic, brother, honor, apostle (teacher), battle (war), christians (missionary), philosopher (scholar), biblical, greek, theologian, brave, dutch, saints (catholic), french, german, and scandinavian.

Thomas is a classic favorite. At present it is still very popular as a baby name for boys, though to a lesser extent than it was before. At the peak of its usage in 1951, 2.526% of baby boys were given the name Thomas. Its ranking then was #8. The baby name has since fallen in popularity, and is in recent years of occasional use. In 2018, its usage was only 0.351% and its ranking #49, but it was nonetheless the most popular out of all boy names in its group. In 2018, Thomas was more commonly used than the next most popular name, Tomas, by 20 times. Thomas has predominantly been a baby boy name, though in the past century it has also been used for girls. In 1983, Thomas as a baby boy name outnumbered its use as a girl name by 115 times.

Baby names that sound like Thomas include Tamus, Tomas, Tomás, Tachan, Tadin, Tadon, Tae-Hyun, Taimah, Taimu, Tainn, Taiwan, Tajuan, Talmyn, Tama, Tamam, Taman, Tamas, Tamás, Tamhas, and Tammy.

† Pronunciation for Thomas: T as in "tee (T.IY)" ; AA as in "odd (AA.D)" ; M as in "me (M.IY)" ; AH as in "mud (M.AH.D)" ; OW as in "oak (OW.K)" ; S as in "see (S.IY)" ; AE as in "at (AE.T)" ; TH as in "theme (TH.IY.M)"

Which Famous Persons bear the name Thomas?

Details of famous persons named Thomas:
Actor Thomas Haden Church, born 17 June 1961, El Paso, Texas.
Actor Tom Cruise, born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, 3 July 1962, Syracuse, New York.
Author Thomas Bulfinch, born 15 July 1796 - 27 May 1867, Newton, Massachusetts.
Author Thomas Carlyle, born 4 December 1795 - 4 February 1888, Ecclefechan, Scotland.
Author Thomas De Quincey, born 15 August 1785 - 8 December 1859, Manchester, England.
Author Sir Thomas More, born 7 February 1478 - 6 July 1535, London, England.
Author Thomas Paine, born 29 January 1737 - 8 June 1809, Thetford, England.
Author Thomas Pynchon, born Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr., 8 May 1937, Glen Cove, New York.
Aviator Thomas E. Selfridge, born 8 February 1882 - 17 September 1908, San Francisco, California.
Cartoonist Thomas Nast, born 27 September 1840 - 7 December 1902, Landau, Germany.

Meaning of Thomas Meaning of Tom Meaning of Thom Meaning of Tam Meaning of Tommy Meaning of Tommie Meaning of Tomie Meaning of Thommy Meaning of Tammy Meaning of Tomás Meaning of Tome Meaning of Tomi Meaning of Tip Meaning of Tomkin Meaning of Tomm Meaning of Tomlinson Meaning of Tomlin Meaning of Tomkins Meaning of Tammany Meaning of Tameas Meaning of Massey Meaning of Tammen Meaning of Thompson Meaning of Tevin Meaning of Thomason Meaning of Thomasina Meaning of Macy
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