Given name & surname
Tom
“twin”
Tom is a variant of Thomas. The original Aramaic byname means “twin.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Tom is a variant of Thomas. The original Aramaic byname means “twin.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Tom is a variant of Thomas. Thomas developed from an Aramaic byname and reached wider use through its Greek biblical form.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
In English use, Tom is used as a shortened form of THomas. Tom is a variant of Thomas. The shared background comes through Thomas: The apostle is called Thomas and also Didymus in the New Testament. Didymus reflects the Greek word for “twin,” matching the meaning of the Aramaic byname behind Thomas.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. Tom is a variant of Thomas. The history of Thomas gives this family its wider story. Thomas was the name of one of Jesus’s twelve apostles, remembered in Christian tradition for his doubts and later reassurance. That story helped establish the name across Christian naming traditions.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Tom through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 140,370
- 139,756 boys · 614 girls
- Most popular year
- 1959
- 5,080 babies
- 2025
- 65
- #2,206 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −22%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 65 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 2,206 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 22.2% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 5,068 in 1959. In 2025, New York had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (10). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 118,350 as a first name in 2020; 10,364 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Tom’s family of names
In English usage, Tom is a diminutive of Thomas. In English usage, Tom has a later derivative in Tomi. In Portuguese usage, Tom has a conventional naming counterpart in the English form Tony.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Tom has relatives in 11 languages.
19 related names in 11 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 5
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 31
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Tomasequivalent
- Tonyequivalent · English
- Tommieequivalent
- Thompson“son of” surname · English
- Tommiequivalent
- Tomaborrowing · tkl
- Tomiderivative · Finnish
- Tommasoequivalent
Show 23 moreShow fewer
- Tamequivalent
- Thomson“son of” surname · English
- TomaszPolish
- Tomoequivalent
- Tomyequivalent
- Thomaequivalent
- Tomasoequivalent
- Tomásequivalent
- Tamásequivalent
- Фомаequivalent
- Tomosequivalent
- Toomasequivalent
- Tomassoequivalent
- Tompson“son of” surname · English
- Tomson“son of” surname · English
- 湯姆borrowing · Chinese
- TomekPolish
- Tomáisínequivalent · Irish
- Toméequivalent
- Fomaequivalent
- Tomažequivalent
- TameMāori
- TomsLatvian
See also 6
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Tom
- Tom HanksAmerican actor and film producer (born 1956)
- Tom CruiseAmerican actor and producer (born 1962)
- Tom HollandBritish actor (born 1996)
- Tom ClancyAmerican author (1947–2013)
- Tom HiddlestonEnglish actor (born 1981)
- Tom StoppardCzech–English playwright (1937–2025)
- Tom WaitsAmerican singer-songwriter and actor (born 1949)
- Tom JonesWelsh singer (born 1940)
- Tom FeltonBritish actor, singer and musicianborn 1987
Characters named Tom: Tom Sawyer (title character of the novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain), Tom Paris (Star Trek: Voyager), Tom Hagen (The Godfather series), Tom Thumb (literature).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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If you love Tom, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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