Tommy

What Tommy means

Diminutive of Thomas, meaning “twin”

diminutive of the male given name Thomas || 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, “Tommy” (revision 94544115) and “Thomas” (revision 94583211), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Tommy?

US: Steady: #706 in 2015, #657 now. England & Wales: Rising: up from #60 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1944, when 3,696 boys got the name (#70 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 4,067 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 234 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 143 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 UT (1.22 per 1,000 boys), ID (0.81 per 1,000 boys), NM (0.77 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Tommy is #657 in the US and #44 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 92.3% of US babies named Tommy were boys.

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

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Toma26 US · 7 E&W
• Tomi5 US · 27 E&W
• Timmy15 US · 7 E&W
• Tommi0 US · 8 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Tommy

Boys

• Thomas#34“twin”^*
• John#23possibly “God is gracious”^*
• Peter#187“stone, rock”^*
• Mark#244Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1960, with 58,727 babies; 1,416 in 2025
• Nicholas#112“victory + people”^*
• Timothy#203“to honour + god”^*

For a sister

• Maria#87Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1964, with 10,148 babies; 2,887 in 2025
• Mary#125Same root as Miriam, possibly meaning “bitter”^*
• Rachel#250“ewe”^*
• Sara#198Variant of Sarah, meaning “masters, princes”^*
• Sarah#90“masters, princes”^*
• Diana#244“goddess”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Tommy’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.