Gender: Masculine
Origin: Aramaic
Meaning: “twin”
(TOM-us)
The Latinized form of the Aramaic Tau’ma which is derived from the word T’oma (תאומא) meaning “twin.” The name was introduced to the world via St. Thomas the Apostle, a character that plays a prominent role in the New Testament. He is best known for his disbelief when he first heard that Christ had resurrected from the dead, hence the saying “doubting Thomas.”
Tau’ma was a nickname given to him to differentiate him from Judas Iscariot, (Thomas’ real name being Judas or Jude). He is also known as Didymos, (the Greek word for twin), and Jude. His evangelization was attributed to the area of Persia and India. Thomas is a very popular name among Indian Christians and Persian Christians. His feast is celebrated on July 3rd. The name was introduced into the English speaking world via the Normans after they had conquered England. Since that time Thomas has been a relatively popular male name.
- Tomas (Albanian)
- Touma توما, (Arabic)
- Tovmas (Armenian)
- Foma (Azeri/Russian)
- Tomás (Aragonese/Asturian/Spanish)
- Tomas (Basque)
- Dammerl (Baverian)
- Tòmas (Bearnais)
- Tamaš Тамаш (Belarusian)
- Toma Тома (Bosnian/Bulgarian/Georgian)
- Tomaz (Breton)
- 多馬 Duoma (Chinese Biblical)
- 湯瑪斯 Tangmasi, 湯瑪士 Tangmashi, 托馬斯 Tuomasi, (Chinese General Translation)
- Tumasgiu (Corsican)
- Tomo/Tome (Croatian: occassionally Tomislav is used as a translation, though technically it has no etymological relation to Thomas)
- Tomáš (Czech)
- Thomas (Danish/Dutch/English/French/German/Indonesian/Latin/Luxemborgish/Norwegian/Swedish)
- Maas (Dutch: originally a diminutive form, sometimes used as an independent given name)
- Toomas (Estonian)
- Tummas (Faroese)
- Tuomas/Tuomo (Finnish)
- Maes (Flemmish)
- Tomas (Filipino/Tagalog)
- Theumis (Frisian)
- Tomé (Galician)
- Thōmâs Θωμᾶς/Thomás Θωμάς/Didymos Δίδυμος (Greek: Modern)
- Teom (Hebrew)
- Tamás (Hungarian)
- Tómas (Icelandic)
- Tomás (Irish)
- Tommasso (Italian)
- Tommassino (Italian)
- Tomasiello/Tommasuccio (Italian: obscure)
- トーマス Tomasu (Japanese)
- Tomas (Karakalpak: a Turkic language spoken in Uzbekistan)
- 도마 Doma /Toma (Korean Biblical)
- 토머스 Tomeoseu/T’omŏsŭ (Korean: General Translation)
- Thomasê (Kurdish)
- Toms (Latvian)
- Tomas (Lithuanian)
- Томислав, Τоми, Томо, Томас, Τоме (Macedonian)
- Thoma/Thommen/Oummen/Thommy (Malayalam)
- Tamihana (Maori)
- Tumas (Maltese)
- Tuami (Moroccan-Arabic)
- Thomé (Occitanian)
- توماس Tomasp (Persian)
- Tomasz (Polish: Tomek is a popular diminutive, equivalent to Tommy or Tom)
- Tomás, Tomé (Portuguese)
- Tomašis/Tomerdos (Romani: language of the Roma people)
- Tumasch (Romansch)
- Tuoms (Saimogaitian: a dialect of Lithuanian)
- Tomasi (Samoan)
- Tomasso (Sardinian)
- Tam/Tòmas (Scottish)
- Тома Toma (Serbian)
- Tomáš (Slovakian)
- Tomaž (Slovene)
- Tomás (Spanish)
- Thoma (Swahili)
- Tāmas தாமஸ்/Tōmā தோமா (Tamil)
- To-mus โทมัส (Thai)
- Choma (Ukrainian)
- Tomaš (Upper Sorbian)
- Tomaxo (Venetian)
- Tomos/Twm (Welsh)
- Teomo (Yiddish)
- Thomasina, Thomasine, Thomazina and Tammy, Tamsin. Popular nicknames include Tom and Tommy.
Legitimate Baby Names 
I like Thomas but has been so popular here it feels a little dare I say it boring
I'd have to agree with you. While its a nice enough classic, its nothing that makes me jump in my seat. I am not particularly impressed with the nickname Tom or Tommy. I do really like Thomasina and Tamsin though.
Hi! I have followed your blog for a long, long time. I’m obsessed with names and it is by far my favorite! My hubby and I are strongly considering the name Tamsin or one of its variants (Tamsine, Tamasin, Tamasine) for our little girl. I was just wondering if, off hand, you knew anything about it — the “correct” form, its origins, etc. — if it’s not too much trouble? Thank you very much 🙂
Hi Whitney
Thanks for your comment. I will get back to you on Tamsin, but off hand, I do know that she is a Cornish feminine form of Thomas. Look for future installments, I might make a separate post for Tamsin.
Wonderful! Thank you very much 🙂