The name Thomas is of Aramaic origins and means ‘twin’. Thomas was one of the 12 apostles of Jesus and is venerated as a saint in the Catholic and Orthodox churches.
Thomas is a first name typically given to boys, but in rare cases also used as a girls name.
The first name Thomas is one of the top 100 most popular boys names in the US – currently at #47 in our SmartGenius ranking. Over 1,000 babies each year are named Thomas, accounting for approximately 0.40 % of all newborn boys. In total, there are currently 2,259,917 people – children, adults and seniors – named Thomas living in the United States, which is approximately 0.67 % of the entire population.
The name Thomas is of Aramaic origins and means ‘twin’. Thomas was one of the 12 apostles of Jesus and is venerated as a saint in the Catholic and Orthodox churches.
By the way, twins are two siblings who are born at the same time from the same pregnancy. Identical twins are created when a single fertilized egg splits into two embryos, resulting in two babies who have nearly identical DNA.
Thomas Edison (1847 - 1931)
He was an American inventor and entrepreneur best known for his work in improving light bulbs and developing electricity generators. His inventions have had a widespread impact on the modern industrialized world.
Thomas Jefferson (1743 - 1826)
Jefferson was an American statesman, lawyer, architect and philosopher. He served as the third President of the United States from 1801 to 1809, previously he was the second American Vice President.
Thomas Mann (1875 - 1955)
The German writer is best known for his novels "Buddenbrooks" (1901) and "The Magic Mountain" (1924). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929.
Thomas More (1478 - 1535)
He was an English jurist and writer best known for his work "Utopia". He was executed by King Henry VIII for refusing to annul the king's marriage. More is now venerated as a saint of the Catholic Church.
When you hear the name Thomas, you might first think of people. But did you know that there are also places with the name Thomas? Are you also called Thomas? Maybe one day you will visit the places that are named just like you...
is a mountain in New Zealand, located on the South Island. Mount Thomas is also a fictional town in the Australian TV series "Blue Heelers" (1994-2006).
there is Thomas Street. In 1803 this street was the scene of the events surrounding the insurrection organised by Robert Emmet, where Lord Kilwarden was killed.
is an Anglican church in London, founded in the 13th century. It was named after the English nobleman Thomas Becket, a martyr of the Anglican Communion.
is a large teaching hospital in London. It is one of London's most famous hospitals and has provided free healthcare since the 12th century.
History tends to focus on the most famous and the best. But even those who play second fiddle leave their mark: Thomas is one of those names without which the orchestra would be incomplete. In fact, the SmartGenius top ranking #8 has been hit more than once, although the last instance was some time ago, way back in the last century in 1955. But even though the peak of its popularity was many decades ago, the name Thomas has been given to newborn boys every year since records began. Thomas is a name of exceptional enduring popularity, conveying the special vibes of the 20th century.
In years where the graph has no value, the name Thomas was given less than five times or even none at all in the entire USA.
The popularity of the name Thomas peaked long ago, but the name has nevertheless arrived in the 21st century. In 2022, it ranked #47 in our statistics - maybe a far cry from when your grandparents or great-grandparents were kids and Thomas made it into the top ten more than once, but still: Traditional names often turn out to be perennial favorites, so maybe it is only a matter of time before Thomas returns to the top.
Regardless of where you live in the US, chances are you know someone called Thomas. Because: There are men and boys named Thomas in every state in the USA. If this does not sound particularly spectacular to you, you should know that of the nearly 50,000 different male first names that occur in the USA, only 386 are recorded in each individual state, so the name Thomas is definitely something very special. In some regions it even makes it into the top 10 of the most popular male first names, for example in Minnesota, where Thomas ranks on place 7, making it one of the most common male first names in the entire state. The greatest chance of meeting Thomas, however, is in Pennsylvania, where one in 48 boys and men bears this beautiful name – that is far above average – in the entire USA it is only one in 74 men and boys and in Texas, where the name is least represented in relation to the population, you even have to ask an average of 134 men and boys for their name before you once get Thomas as an answer.
Well, you might say, you probably figured that out yourself! But what you might not know is: The letter T is a particularly popular initial letter for boys’ names. That’s because 6.3% of all common boys’ names in the US begin with this letter. By the way, the most common first letters for boys’ names are J, A and D.
With six letters, the name Thomas is of average length. In fact, 28% of all common first names in the US consist of exactly six letters. 24% of all first names are shorter, while 48% have seven letters or more. On average, first names in the US (not counting hyphenated names) are 6.5 letters long. There are no significant differences between boys' and girls' names.
With 6.3% of all boys' names that begin with the letter T, this first letter is much more common than the other letters on average. And Thomas is the boys’ name starting with T, which is the most common of all.
If your name is Thomas and someone asks after your name, you can of course just tell them what it is. But sometimes that isn't so easy - what if it's too loud, and you don't understand them well? Or what if the other person is so far away that you can see them but not hear them? In these situations, you can communicate your name in so many other ways: you call spell it, sign it, or even use a flag to wave it...
So that everyone really understands you when you have to spell the name Thomas, you can simply say:
Tiger
Hat
Orange
Mouse
Apple
Sun
Braille is made up of dots, which the blind and visually impaired can feel to read words.
Thomas
Thomas
Just use American Sign Language!
These flags are used for maritime communication - each flag represents a letter.
T
H
O
M
A
S
In the navy, sailors of two ships might wave flags to each other to send messages. A sailor holds two flags in specific positions to represent different letters.
T
H
O
M
A
S
In Morse code, letters and other characters are represented only by a series of short and long tones. For example, a short tone followed by a long tone stands for the letter A. Thomas sounds like this:
