Head to head · Boys' names
Donald vs Tomas
#690 vs #691 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Donald is a whisker ahead (#690 vs #691 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Donald leads 4 measures of 6; Tomas leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Donald #226, Tomas #493 — Donald higher
- 1890s: Donald #105, Tomas #638 — Donald higher
- 1900s: Donald #58, Tomas #529 — Donald higher
- 1910s: Donald #25, Tomas #638 — Donald higher
- 1920s: Donald #10, Tomas #514 — Donald higher
- 1930s: Donald #7, Tomas #501 — Donald higher
- 1940s: Donald #12, Tomas #496 — Donald higher
- 1950s: Donald #15, Tomas #530 — Donald higher
- 1960s: Donald #25, Tomas #540 — Donald higher
- 1970s: Donald #41, Tomas #497 — Donald higher
- 1980s: Donald #66, Tomas #478 — Donald higher
- 1990s: Donald #141, Tomas #474 — Donald higher
- 2000s: Donald #282, Tomas #500 — Donald higher
- 2010s: Donald #448, Tomas #680 — Donald higher
- 2020s: Donald #650, Tomas #715 — Donald higher
Donald stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Donald | Tomas |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #226 | #493 |
| 1890s | #105 | #638 |
| 1900s | #58 | #529 |
| 1910s | #25 | #638 |
| 1920s | #10 | #514 |
| 1930s | #7 | #501 |
| 1940s | #12 | #496 |
| 1950s | #15 | #530 |
| 1960s | #25 | #540 |
| 1970s | #41 | #497 |
| 1980s | #66 | #478 |
| 1990s | #141 | #474 |
| 2000s | #282 | #500 |
| 2010s | #448 | #680 |
| 2020s | #650 | #715 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Donald
world-ruler
Gaelic Domhnall descends from an older Celtic compound, dumno-valos, joining the words for world and rule — a chieftain's name of the plainest and most ambitious kind. The derivation is well attested and appears in early Irish and Scottish sources. Two kings of the Picts and Scots carried it in the ninth century, before the kingdom had its modern name, which puts it among the earliest recorded personal names in Scotland.
Dumnovalos → Domhnall → Donald
How it traveled
England borrowed almost nothing from Gaelic for centuries and then, in the eighteen-hundreds, took a great deal at once — Donald, Malcolm, Douglas, Kenneth, Ian — largely on the strength of Walter Scott and a romantic view of the Highlands that arrived a generation after the Highlands had been cleared. Donald became one of the most-used men's names in America by the nineteen-thirties.
Tomas
twin
From Aramaic te'oma, 'twin'. The Gospel of John glosses the apostle's name with the Greek word Didymos, which means the same thing.
Te'oma (Aramaic) → Thomas (Greek) → Thomas (Latin) → Tomás / Tomáš → Tomas
How it traveled
The name begins in Aramaic as te'oma, 'twin', and reaches the wider world through the apostle called Thomas in the Gospels — the one the Greek text also names Didymos. Greek and Latin carried it across the Mediterranean, and medieval Christendom spread it into nearly every European language, where each one filed down a different edge: Thomas in England and France, Tommaso in Italy, Tomasz in Poland, Tomás in Spain, Portugal and Ireland.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Donald
DON-uld
DON-uld, two syllables, stress at the front, the second vowel reduced. Gaelic Domhnall is closer to DOH-null, with the mh silent and the vowel long, which is a noticeably different name and the older one.
- Don — The front clipped, and a complete working name; what most Donalds go by.
- Donnie — The same softened, and a standing name of its own with a long American history.
- Donal — The Irish spelling, used as a formal alternative in Irish families.
Tomas
TOH-mahs
English speakers usually stress the first syllable. In Spanish and Portuguese the accented form Tomás puts the stress on the second: toh-MAHS. Both are correct for their own language, so it helps to decide early which one your family will use.
- Tom — The universal short form across English and most European languages; also stands alone as a given name.
- Tommy — Informal and affectionate, common from childhood on; used as an independent given name too.
- Tomi — Informal, familiar in Spanish- and Lithuanian-speaking families.
- Tomasito — Spanish diminutive, used within families rather than at school or work.
- Also Tomy.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Donald if you want…
- a name holding steadyDonald is holding its place on the charts
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 40% for Tomas
Choose Tomas if you want…
- a name on the way upup 16 places on the charts in five years
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Tom, Tommy and Tomi
- a name that feels very nowTomas is holding its place on the charts
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Donald
Strengths
- The Gaelic history behind it is genuinely ancient and well documented.
- Don is a complete working short form that needs no explanation.
- It has been in continuous English use for two centuries and in Gaelic use for a thousand.
To consider
- The cartoon duck is the first association for a great many people and has been for ninety years.
- The name has also been strongly associated with particular public figures in recent decades, which changes what a room hears.
- It is very strongly represented among older generations in America.
Tomas
Strengths
- Shortens to Tom and Tommy without any explanation needed anywhere in the English-speaking world.
- Works unchanged in Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Lithuanian, Swedish and Norwegian — a rare thing for a name this short.
- A documented line running from Aramaic through Greek and Latin into nearly every European language.
To consider
- It will be written as Thomas by people who are not listening carefully — on forms, in emails, on class lists. Most bearers make peace with correcting it.
- The accent is a lifelong small decision: Tomás is standard in Spanish and Portuguese, but American systems drop diacritics constantly, so the two spellings will follow him around.
- Stress shifts between languages, so relatives may say the name differently from teachers. Families generally settle this by simply choosing one and repeating it.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Donald
12%chance Donald feels dated by 2040
Donald has held the top-100 across 9 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Tomas
40%chance Tomas feels dated by 2040
Tomas sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Donald and Tomas in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Donald and Tomas?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- The top-10 club: every name that made it
- Classics hiding in plain sight
- Greatest Generation names (born 1901–1927)
- Silent Generation names (born 1928–1945)
- all guides
Where Donald and Tomas each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Donald or Tomas — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Donald or Tomas?
- Donald, in 2025: Donald ranked #690 with 395 babies; Tomas ranked #691 with 394 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Donald or Tomas?
- Tomas. Over the last five years Donald moved down 82 places; Tomas moved up 16 places.
- Which is the older name, Donald or Tomas?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Donald and Tomas?
- About 683,000 people named Donald are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 25,000 people named Tomas are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Donalds or Tomass in the classroom?
- Donald will almost certainly be the only one in school. Tomas will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Donald, Tomas and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap