Thomas

Thomas started life as a nickname rather than a given name. In Aramaic, the everyday language of first-century Palestine, the word meant 'twin'. One of Jesus's apostles was known by it, and the Greek gospels wrote it down as Thomas; the Gospel of John even glosses it with Didymus, the ordinary Greek word for a twin. Behind the Name and Wiktionary agree on this meaning, and the Latin Bible then carried the name into English, Dutch and the other languages of Europe.

The apostle is remembered for refusing to believe in the resurrection until he had seen the wounds for himself, which is where the phrase 'doubting Thomas' comes from, and tradition says he died a martyr in India. The Normans brought the name to England, where, according to Behind the Name, it ranked among the five most common boys' names from the 13th to the 19th century. Elsewhere it became Tomás, Tommaso, Tomasz, Tuomas or Foma, while Scotland has Tam and Tavish and Wales has Twm.

In British English it is said TOM-uhs, with a silent h, while Americans open the first vowel a little more. Tom is the classic short form, with Tommy and Thom as friendlier alternatives, and girls can be given the related Thomasina or Tamsin. Because Thomas is two syllables ending softly in s, it sits well beside a short middle name such as Thomas James or Thomas Felix, and alongside siblings called Lucas, Jules, Alice or Louise.