Thomas (name)

Thomas
Pronunciation /ˈtɒməs/
French: [tɔma]
German: [ˈtoːmas]
Dutch: [ˈtoːmɑs]
Gender Male
Name day July 3
Origin
Word/name Aramaic
Meaning "twin"
Other names
Related names Tom, Tommaso, Tŏmas, Tomas, Tomasz, Tommy, Tomo, Tomtom

Thomas is a masculine given name. It is based on the Biblical Greek Θωμᾶς, which is itself a transcription of the Aramaic Taumā תאומא "twin", the Hebrew cognate being tə'ōm תאום.

"Tom" "Thom" or "Tommy" are abbreviations of Thomas; "Tam" is a common abbreviation used in Scotland. Abbreviated written forms are "Thos" and "Th".

Feminine versions of this name are Thomasina, Tamsyn, Tamsin, Thomaida/Thomais, or Tammy.

History

Like Petros (Cephas) "the rock", Didymos or Thomas "the twin" is not in origin a given name but an epithet of a New Testament figure. The given name of Thomas the Apostle was Yehuda (Jude, Judas).

In the New Testament the designation was applied to Judas Thomas, the second Judas of the Apostles (hence his appellation "twin").[1]

Use as a given name originates in the Early Middle Ages. Early known bearers of this name are Thomas the Presbyter (7th century) and Thomas the Slav (8th century).

The name becomes more common during the High Middle Ages, with notable bearers including Thomas of Bayeux (d. 1100), Thomas Becket (1118?−1170), Thomas of Britain (12th century), Thomas the Archdeacon (1200–1268), and Thomas Aquinas (1225–1270).

Variants

The Biblical Θωμᾶς has given rise to a large variety of spellings and forms in numerous languages.

References

  1. ↑ Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, Oxford Dictionary of First Names, Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1, p.260.
  2. ↑ "The Online Scots Dictionary - Diacritics". Scots-online.org. Retrieved 2014-01-30.
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