Name of the Week: Thomas

 

 

Origin:

Thomas is the Greek form of the Aramaic name Ta'oma (תאומא) derived from the word תאמא tāma "twin". According to Biblical tradition, it was created as a byname for the one of the apostles named Judah. This Judah was given the epithet Didymus ("twin" in Greek) and therefore also Thomas in Aramaic, presumably to distinguish him from the other two apostles named Judah.

Usage:

Thomas established itself in Britain after the Norman Conquest. Prior to this, it was only found as the name of an Anglo-Saxon priest, but, thanks to its Biblical pedigree, came into general use by the 11th century. Two of the first Norman Archbishops of York — Thomas of Bayeux (d. 1100) and his nephew Thomas of York (d.1114) — bore the name, as well as Archbishop of Canterbury and later saint Thomas Becket (1118−1170). Becket's opposition to his good friend King Henry II's plans to curb the power of the church and clerical privilege led to his murder, when four overzealous knights acted on, what they assumed, to be the King's will. Very soon after Becket's death, he was hailed as a martyr and miracles were said to occur at his tomb. Soon, Canterbury became one of the principal pilgrimages in Europe — Henry II built the great Dover Castle chiefly to court European nobility who made their way to England for this pilgrimage — and, two years after his death, Becket was canonised.  It was the martyrdom (and hugely popular cult) of Thomas Becket, E. G. Withcombe argued, that led to Thomas becoming one of the commonest men's names of the Middle Ages, pointing out that: "Most of the church dedications in this name were originally to St. Thomas of Canterbury, but Henry VIII, who had a special dislike to the memory of the recalcitrant archbishop, had them altered to St. Thomas the Apostle."* Whether Becket was the main reason for the name's popularity or not, what is indisputable is that, but the 14th century, Thomas was one of the most popular names in Britain. Redmonds' survey of 1000 names from ten English counties 1377-81 puts Thomas at #3 behind John and William and before Robert and Richard, though the latter three, he notes, could change order depending on the region.  Three further saints bearing the name were canonised in the 13th century (two English, one Italian); two in the 14th century, and three in the 15th century. Thomas also had some use among English royalty (though it wasn't commonly used). The fifth son of Edward I was Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk (1300–1338). The story goes that, when he was born, his mother had prayed to Thomas Becket during her difficult labour and so he was named for the saint. Thomas of Brotherton was Keeper of England when his brother Edward II was away fighting in Scotland, and was later a principle advisor of his nephew Edward III. Perhaps it was for his uncle that King Edward III named his youngest son Thomas of Woodstock (1355–1397). Thom, Thome, Tome, Tom, and Thomlyn are all recorded as diminutives in 1379* and the French diminutive Mace/Masse (which was both a nickname for Matthew and occasionally Thomas) and Tam were also in use.  The numerous surnames derived from Thomas include Thomas, Thoms, Tomes, Thomason, Thomazin, Thompsett, Thompson, Tomkin, Tompkins, Tomkinson, Tomlin, Tomblin, Tomlinson and MacThomas to name just a few. Furthermore, Thomas was so common that it formed many common phrases in the English language. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable has over twenty entries under "Tom" in which is described as indicating an "ordinary sort."* Examples include Tom-cat, Tom Tiller, Tom-boy, Tom-tit, Tom Foolery and "Every Tom, Dick and Harry."   Like Philip and Nicholas, Thomas was also used occasionally for girls in the Middle Ages, such as the woman named Thomase found in the Wills in the Court of Probate, London in 1395. Withycombe points out that both Thomasinus and Thomasina can be found in the Feudal Aids of 1346, but that the diminutive Thomasin eventually became the usual feminine form of the name. In France, the diminutives Massine and Massiotte can also be found.* Smith Bannister's rank of top 50 names from 1538 to 1700 in England puts Thomas consistently in either 2nd or 3rd place, interchanging with William behind John:  1538-49: #2; 1550-9: #3; 1560-9: #2; 1570-9: #2; 1580-9: #3; 1590-9: #3; 1600-9: #2; 1610-9: #3; 1620-9: #2; 1630-9: #3; 1640-9: #2; 1650-9: #3; 1660-9: #3; 1670-9: #3; 1680-9: #3; 1690-1700: #3.  This top three status continued through to the 19th century. Dunkling puts Thomas at #3 in England and Wales in both 1700 and 1800, and this top 5 status continued up until the 1930s though it was never out of the top 50: 1850: #3 1860: #3 1870: #4 1880: #4 1890: #4 1900: #4 1904: #4 1914: #4 1924: #5 1934: #12 1944: #19 1954: #24 1964: #24  1974: #40  1984: #11 1994: #1 Click to enlarge From reaching #1 in 1994, Thomas remained in the top 3 (as it had done from the 14th-20th century) up until 2009 when it fell to #6. Throughout this period, the birth count gradually declined year on year even as the rank remained steady. For example, Thomas was #2 in 1999 with 9454 births and #2 in 2007 with 6530 births.  In Scotland — having ranked at #7 in 1900 and #6 in 1950 — Thomas has been within the top 30 since 1974, but only twice (2005 and 2006) has ranked in the top 20.  In 2016, Thomas ranked #9 (3898 births) in England and Wales, #23 (225 births) in Scotland and #14 (117 births) in Northern Ireland.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Saint Thomas Becket (1118–70), English martyr, archbishop of Canterbury. * Thomas of Erceldoune (fl. 1220?–1297), Scottish seer and poet. * Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225–74), Italian philosopher and theologian, Doctor of the Church. * Prince Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk (1300–1338), fifth son of King Edward I and principle advisor of his nephew Edward III. * Prince Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Buckingham, 1st Earl of Essex (1355–1397), son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. * Thomas à Kempis (ca. 1380-1471), German priest, monk and writer. * Sir Thomas Malory (d. 1471), English author of Morte d'Arthur. * Sir Thomas More (1478–1535), an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. Venerated by Roman Catholics as Saint Thomas More. * Thomas Erastus (1524–83), Swiss Protestant theologian and physician. * Thomas James (1593–1635), English navigator and explorer. * Thomas Gray (1716–71), English poet. * Thomas Gainsborough (1727–88), English portrait and landscape painter. * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), American statesman and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. * Thomas Moore (1779-1852), Irish poet. * Thomas Hardy (1840–1928), English novelist and poet. * Thomas Edison (1847–1931), an American inventor. * Thomas Mann (1875–1955), German novelist and essayist. Contemporary: * Thomas "Tom" Brady, American football player for the New England Patriots. * Thomas "Tom" Chaplin, British singer of band Keane. * Thomas "Tom" Clancy, American author. * Thomas "Tom Cruise" Mapother, American actor. * Thomas "Tom" Felton, British actor and singer. * Thomas "Tom" Fletcher, British singer of McFly.  * Thomas "Tom" Hanks, American actor. * Edward Thomas "Tom" Hardy, British actor. * Thomas "Tom" Hiddleston, British actor. * Sir Thomas Woodward "Tom Jones", Welsh singer.  * Thomas "Tom" Petty, American musician and singer-songwriter. Literature and Other Media: * Thomas the Tank Engine, a locomotive character from The Railway Series of children's books by the Rev. W. Awdry. * Thomas Barrow, the underbutler on the series Downton Abbey. * Thomas, the main character from the novel and film The Maze Runner.

Variants:

Tomos, Twm (Welsh), Tomás (Spanish, Portuguese, Irish), Tàmhas/Tavish, Tòmas (Scottish), Tommaso (Italian), Tuomas (Finnish), Tomáš (Czech, Slovak)

Pronunciation:

TOM-əs [key]

Possible diminutives:

Tom, Thom, Tommy, Tam, Mace

Sibling Names:

Sophie     Emily     Charlotte     Emma     Lucy     Olivia  William     George     Harry     Oliver     James     Joseph

Name Lists:

Medieval Favourites   Terrifically Tudor  Gorgeously Georgian   Victorian Darlings   British Royalty   Shakespearean Names   Austen Names   Dickensian Names   Tennyson Names   Bronte Names   Beatrix Potter Names   Disney Names   Gilbert & Sullivan Names

 

If you like Thomas you may also like:   Charles, Jacob, Lewis, Samuel, Daniel, Benjamin, Matthew, Luke, Joshua, Nicholas

Thanks to Chris for requesting this name.