Meaning and history
Thomas is the Greek form of the Aramaic name תְּאוֹמָא (Teʾoma), meaning “twin.” In the New Testament, it is the name of an apostle who initially doubted Jesus’ resurrection until Jesus appeared to him and he examined his wounds, and tradition says he was martyred in India. The name became widely used in the Christian world and was introduced to England by the Normans, gaining great popularity through Saint Thomas Becket, the 12th-century archbishop of Canterbury and martyr; it was among the five most common English boys’ names from the 13th to the 19th century and remains popular today. Notable bearers also include Thomas Aquinas, the 13th-century Italian philosopher and theologian and Doctor of the Church, as well as Thomas Hobbes, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Hardy, and Thomas Edison.
20062006: 9,514 births, rank #51
2007: 8,935 births, rank #52
2008: 8,370 births, rank #52
2009: 7,728 births, rank #57
2010: 7,136 births, rank #62
20112011: 6,929 births, rank #63
2012: 6,855 births, rank #63
2013: 6,799 births, rank #61
2014: 7,043 births, rank #54
2015: 7,204 births, rank #50
20162016: 7,367 births, rank #48
2017: 7,187 births, rank #49
2018: 6,840 births, rank #49
2019: 6,667 births, rank #47
2020: 6,452 births, rank #45
20212021: 6,680 births, rank #46
2022: 6,512 births, rank #45
2023: 6,625 births, rank #41
2024: 6,596 births, rank #39
20252025: 6,917 births, rank #34
Thomas has unusual staying power. It appears in the US records as early as 1880 and still ranks #34 for boys in 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 1952, with 48,647 births.