Thomas
given name · Latin script
Meaning, in English: from the biblical personal name Thomas, from Aramaic t’dm’a ‘twin’
A male name· listed as male by the registers that count names by sex
(measured from records)Officially recorded in 98 countries · latest register: BFS, 2024
/ˈtɑ.məs/(recorded in a dictionary) English · from Wiktionary
Thomas is a male given name written in the Latin script, with more bearers in the United States than in any other country, where it is the 13th most common given name.
- DEGermany≈1 in 80(inferred from the name graph)
- ATAustria≈1 in 83
- CHSwitzerland≈1 in 110
carrying the name, as counted by its national register where one exists and as Mondonomo estimates it elsewhere (marked ≈ and "est." on hover). Where a country counts another spelling of the name rather than Thomas itself, the figure is that spelling’s, and it is named. Countries with no figure are shown too: flat where a national register lists the name without counting it, hatched where only our records hold it. One hue, darker where it is more common; hover a country for its figure.
- United States (measured from records)
- #43 (measured from records)
- 4 (measured from records)
- Record sources
- 690 (measured from records)
- ≈1 in 80 (inferred from the name graph)
1,506,606 people, 2020
of 15M given names, spellings grouped
recorded for this name
corpus datasets behind its best-documented spelling
strongest: highest-authority source
Germany, est.
measured from records inferred from the name graph
Spellings & scripts
(measured from records)Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records, and ○ marks a model's transliteration; click a spelling to open its page.
Meaning & origin
(measured from records)from the biblical personal name Thomas, from Aramaic t’dm’a ‘twin’
Cited for this meaning 1
- Encyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history]
Attested across 14 languages in the etymology graph.
How Thomas is read
(measured from records)Thomas is one spelling over 2 language communities, and the dictionaries record it differently in 2 of them. Each row is what a source recorded for that language, beside the share of this name’s records the language holds. No single row is the name’s meaning.
- English75%
from the biblical personal name Thomas, from Aramaic t’dm’a ‘twin’
as a nameEncyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history]
Aramaic name meaning ‘twin’; first attested Thomas 1086
as a nameA Dictionary of English Surnames
From the personal name Thomas; earliest cited as thum, david ap thum (Caern. 1293).
as a nameWelsh Surnames
- German8.0%
from Aramaic Teʾoma 'twin'; used in the phrase ungläubiger Thomas
as a nameDeutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung
The share is ours — how much of this name’s records each language holds. The sense beside it is the source’s, quoted and credited, including where it names a gender. We do not publish a gender of our own per language: our records carry one figure for the spelling as a whole.
Often considered alongside
Names that people choosing a name often weigh against Thomas, most often first. They share a style rather than an origin.
From the names suggested together in public name-advice forums, in English. A list of what people consider, not a measure of how common any name is.
Where in the world
(measured from records)Thomas counted together with the spellings and other-language forms grouped with it. Where a register counted another spelling, the row names it.
Sorted by bearers: national registers' counts, and Mondonomo's estimates (≈, est.) where no register counts.
| Country | Most common spelling | Sources | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US United States | #13 | 1,506,606 | 1 in 221 | 1.5M | Thomas | 690 |
| DE Germany | #4 | ≈1,000,000 est. | ≈1 in 80 | listed | Thomas | 395 |
| GB United Kingdom | #17 | ≈430,000 est. | ≈1 in 152 | listed | Thomas | 443 |
| CZ Czechia | — | 363,852as Tomáš | 1 in 29 | 364K | — | 6 |
| FR France | — | ≈280,000 est. | ≈1 in 241 | 282K | Thomas | 22 |
| AT Austria | #2 | ≈110,000 est. | ≈1 in 83 | 32K | Thomas | 243 |
| CH Switzerland | #4 | ≈80,000 est. | ≈1 in 106 | 2.6K | Thomas | 217 |
| IE Ireland | #9 | ≈39,000 est. | ≈1 in 133 | 75 | Thomas | 183 |
1,506,606 people counted by Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex, 2020. Exact figures are national registers' own counts, while figures marked ≈ and est. are Mondonomo’s estimates, counted from our sources and calibrated against those registers; hover one for how far to trust it in that country. A dash means neither exists.
Registers cited: Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex; MVČR — living population register 2017; INSEE — Fichier des prénoms (1900–2024); Statistik Austria — STATatlas Vornamen WFS (per-name time series 1984–2024); CSO — Irish Babies Names (1998–present); BFS — Familiennamen der Wohnbevölkerung (surnames). Figures without a register are Mondonomo estimates; see Methodology.
Country figures for a list of names, at full precision, are available under licence rather than by scraping this table (how that works).
Other recorded senses
(measured from records)Thomas is also recorded in 2 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.
The name Thomas, meaning 'twin,' is a classic and enduring name with deep historical roots. It belongs to the apostle known for his loyalty, thoughtful questioning, and ultimate declaration of profound faith. The name suggests a character that is both honest and devoted.
as a nameBiblical Names Compiled Database
The name 'Thomas' is the Greek form of the Aramaic name 'Te'oma' (תְּאוֹמָא), which means 'twin'. The New Testament also refers to him by the Greek equivalent, 'Didymus', which likewise means 'twin'.
as a nameBiblical Names Compiled Database
Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.
Notable people with this name
(measured from records)- Thomas Paineb. 1737USAmerican Founding Father, philosopher, and political activist (1737–1809)
- Thomas Jeffersonb. 1743USFounding Father, U.S. president from 1801 to 1809 (1743–1826)
- Thomas Malthusb. 1766GBBritish political economist (1766–1834)
- Thomas Carlyleb. 1795GBScottish essayist, historian and philosopher (1795–1881)
- Thomas Hardyb. 1840GBEnglish novelist and poet (1840–1928)
- Tennessee Williamsb. 1911USnot in their usual nameAmerican playwright (1911–1983)
- Dale T. Mortensenb. 1939USnot in their usual nameAmerican economist (1939–2014)
- Thomas J. Sargentb. 1943USAmerican economist (born 1943)
- Tom Clancyb. 1947USnot in their usual nameAmerican author (1947–2013)
- Evan Spiegelb. 1990USnot in their usual nameAmerican businessman (born 1990)
The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).
How to address them
(machine-generated)A formal English salutation is built on the surname, so it needs a full name — on its own, a first name only supports the informal form.
Evidence
(measured from records)203 registers and reference works attest this spelling, across 98 countries.
| Country | Register | Year | Count | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US United States | Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2010 | 2010 | 756K | #16 |
| US United States | Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2020 | 2020 | 734K | #16 |
| US United States | Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2000 | 2000 | 711K | #14 |
| FR France | INSEE — Fichier des noms de famille (1891–2000) | 1991 | 10K | — |
| CH Switzerland | BFS — Familiennamen der Wohnbevölkerung (surnames) | 2024 | 1.8K | #567 |
Reference works 11
- The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland
- Nederlandse FamilienamenBank (Dutch surname bank; ex-Meertens Instituut, now CBG)2007
- Nişanyan Adlar (Turkish given-name national-registry frequency)
- Wikipedia given-name tokens
- Wikipedia surname tokens
- Wikidata name items (native-script + romanized given/family names)
- Rymut, Słownik nazwisk współcześnie w Polsce używanych (10 vols, IJP PAN, Kraków 1992–1994) — every Polish surname in the PESEL register at the end of 1990, with bearer counts nationally and per voivodeship1990
- Hoffman, Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings (2nd ed., 2012)
- jeantosti.com — Dictionnaire des noms de famille de France et d'ailleurs (Jean Tosti)
- Søndergaard, Georg, Danske efternavne (Lademann 1984/1991)
- Ethiopian name tokens (GitHub lehagere/ethiopian-names, 40/60 condominium list)
These works list the name; their figures are licensed and are not reproduced here.
Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.
Frequently asked questions
- What does the name Thomas mean, and where does it come from?
- from the biblical personal name Thomas, from Aramaic t’dm’a ‘twin’ Recorded by Encyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history].
- Is Thomas a male or female name?
- Thomas is a male name. National registers that list it by sex list it as male: United States (Census Bureau, 2020), France (INSEE, 2024), Norway (SSB) and Denmark (Danmarks Statistik), among others.
- What are other forms of the name Thomas?
- In the etymology graph, Tomas, Tomasz and Tomás are forms of the same name in other languages; Tom, Tommy and Tommie are recorded short or pet forms.
- In which country does Thomas have the most bearers?
- In the United States, the national register counted about 1.5 million people named Thomas, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled thomas.
- How common is the name Thomas?
- In the United States, the national register counted 1,506,606 people named Thomas in 2020, about 1 in 221 residents.
- How common is Thomas compared with other names?
- In the United States, Thomas is the 13th most common given name of 2,815,431 given names recorded there.
- How do you pronounce Thomas?
- It depends on the language: in English /ˈtɑ.məs/ (Wiktionary); in German /ˈtoː.mas/ (Wiktionary).
What do you want to know about Thomas?
Nobody replies to these one by one, but what readers ask decides what these pages answer next.
Query this name via API
curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" https://api.mondonomo.ai/api/v1/name-graph/thomasThe payload this page is built from: spellings and scripts, countries and languages, related names, and the registers that attest the form. It takes a free API key (1,000 requests a day), which returns what this page shows everyone; the full country table, every register citation and the year-by-year series come with a licensed key, as does bulk access.
About this data
measured from records inferred from the name graph machine-generated
These figures come from the data snapshot of and will change as it is rebuilt.
Statistics are aggregated from the Mondonomo name corpus; related names and etymology are inferred from the name graph; pronunciation and any machine-marked transliterations are model-generated. Read how the numbers are made, including their known failure modes, and where the data comes from.
Reference works we consult — surname dictionaries, official name registers, Wikidata and Wiktionary — are named directly, beside the claims they support. The per-country source counts also include datasets of person records: we publish how many there are and their authority tier, but not their names.
Cite this page Mondonomo, “Thomas” — the 13th most common given name in United States. Data snapshot 2026-10-13.