Head to head · Boys' names
Taylor vs Tomas
#683 vs #691 in 2025 · Latin vs Aramaic roots
Taylor is a whisker ahead (#683 vs #691 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Taylor is stepping back from its peak, Tomas is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Tomas has the edge.
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, Taylor 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: Taylor #331, Tomas #493 — Taylor higher
- 1890s: Taylor #359, Tomas #638 — Taylor higher
- 1900s: Taylor #422, Tomas #529 — Taylor higher
- 1910s: Taylor #514, Tomas #638 — Taylor higher
- 1920s: Taylor #646, Tomas #514 — Tomas higher
- 1930s: Taylor #717, Tomas #501 — Tomas higher
- 1940s: Taylor #737, Tomas #496 — Tomas higher
- 1950s: Taylor #783, Tomas #530 — Tomas higher
- 1960s: Taylor #775, Tomas #540 — Tomas higher
- 1970s: Taylor #581, Tomas #497 — Tomas higher
- 1980s: Taylor #179, Tomas #478 — Taylor higher
- 1990s: Taylor #74, Tomas #474 — Taylor higher
- 2000s: Taylor #216, Tomas #500 — Taylor higher
- 2010s: Taylor #438, Tomas #680 — Taylor higher
- 2020s: Taylor #631, Tomas #715 — Taylor higher
Taylor stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; Taylor has held the lead since the 1980s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Taylor | Tomas |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #331 | #493 |
| 1890s | #359 | #638 |
| 1900s | #422 | #529 |
| 1910s | #514 | #638 |
| 1920s | #646 | #514 |
| 1930s | #717 | #501 |
| 1940s | #737 | #496 |
| 1950s | #783 | #530 |
| 1960s | #775 | #540 |
| 1970s | #581 | #497 |
| 1980s | #179 | #478 |
| 1990s | #74 | #474 |
| 2000s | #216 | #500 |
| 2010s | #438 | #680 |
| 2020s | #631 | #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
Taylor
tailor — one who cuts cloth
From Old French tailleur, from Latin taliare, 'to cut'.
taliare (Latin) → tailleur (Old French) → taillour / Taylor (Middle English surname) → Taylor (given name)
How it traveled
Taylor is one of the great English occupational surnames, recorded from the medieval period onward for the tailor — the cutter of cloth — and it comes through Old French tailleur from the Latin verb taliare, 'to cut'. Like Riley, Parker and Harper, it made the ordinary English journey from trade to family name to given name, a pattern that has fed first names steadily for generations.
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
Taylor
TAY-lur
Stress on the first syllable. One pronunciation everywhere in English; the only real variation is how fully the final -er is sounded.
- Tay — The standard informal short form for either sex; also used on its own in casual writing.
- Tay-Tay — Playful, family-and-friends register; used mostly for girls.
- T — Initial-only nickname, common among schoolmates and teammates.
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 Taylor if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsTaylor is stepping back from its peak
- a name that feels very nowTaylor is stepping back from its peak
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 ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 75% for Taylor
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
Taylor
Strengths
- Spelling and pronunciation are already known to everyone in English — no repeating, no correcting on the phone.
- Works for a boy or a girl with no change of form, and reads the same on a class list either way.
- A documented word history going back through Old French to Latin, unbroken and easy to explain to a child.
To consider
- The girls' side is much the larger one now, so a boy named Taylor will meet the occasional assumption on paper before people meet him. It is easily corrected, and the boys' use is genuinely older than the girls'.
- There are a great many adult Taylors, clustered in one broad generation — the name may read to some ears as belonging to grown-ups rather than to children, though that has ceased to be true of new classrooms.
- Tayler and Taylah exist as spellings, so the occasional form will come back needing a fix.
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
Taylor
75%chance Taylor feels dated by 2040
Taylor is coming down from a big peak (#51 in 1993). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
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 Taylor 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 Taylor 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.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Taylor and Tomas — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Taylor or Tomas — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Taylor or Tomas?
- Taylor, in 2025: Taylor ranked #683 with 398 babies; Tomas ranked #691 with 394 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Taylor or Tomas?
- Tomas. Over the last five years Taylor moved down 90 places; Tomas moved up 16 places.
- Which is the older name, Taylor or Tomas?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Taylor and Tomas?
- About 106,000 people named Taylor 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 Taylors or Tomass in the classroom?
- Taylor 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
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