Thomas

What Thomas means

Means “twin”

Inherited from Middle English Thomas, from Latin Thōmās m (as in the Vulgate), from Ancient Greek Θωμᾶς m (Thōmâs), the Biblical Greek transcription of Aramaic תאומא or תאמא (“twin”), the nickname of one of the Twelve Apostles.

Source: Wiktionary, “Thomas” (revision 94583211), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Thomas?

US: Rising: up from #50 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #9 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1951, when 48,275 boys got the name (#8 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 247 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 202 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 127 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in VT (13.2 per 1,000 boys), WY (11.01 per 1,000 boys), DC (10.29 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Thomas is #34 in the US and #35 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9% of US babies named Thomas were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

If you like Thomas

Boys

• Peter#187“stone, rock”^*
• Mark#244Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1960, with 58,727 babies; 1,416 in 2025
• Philip#527“fond of horses”^*
• Stephen#383“crown, wreath”^*
• Paul#262“small”^*
• Timothy#203“to honour + god”^*

For a sister

• Martha#712“mistress”^*
• Mary#125Same root as Miriam, possibly meaning “bitter”^*
• Priscilla#544“former, ancient, old-fashioned”^*
• Rebecca#349“enchantingly beautiful, captivating, snare”^*
• Deborah#862“bee”^*
• Rachel#250“ewe”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Bible, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Thomas’s. Rank is US 2025.