Tomie
Masculine · “Twin”
Tomie is given to both — 904 boys and 476 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Tomie is a short form of a very old name, and that short form has done more work in English than almost any other — it is the word the language reaches for when it needs a stand-in for any man at all, or any male animal.
How old is the name Tomie?
Tomie first appears in US birth records in 1886 — 139 years ago. The typical Tomie alive today was born around 1923, making them about 102 years old. About 100 people named Tomie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Tomie most popular?
Tomie peaked in 1902, reaching #687 nationally. See the whole 1902 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Te'oma to Tomie
The story of Tomie
English uses this name generically more than any other. A tomcat is any male cat; a tom turkey is any male turkey; a tomboy was a boisterous boy before it was a girl; Tom Thumb is small by definition and tomfoolery is what any fool does. And the most famous generic Tom is a soldier. When the British army printed specimen forms showing recruits how to fill in their pay books, the example name written in the blanks was Tommy Atkins — and the soldiers took the joke, so that for a century and a half every British infantryman was a Tommy. A name becomes generic only when it is carried by so many people that it stops identifying anyone, which is a strange kind of success.
Meaning
Twin
The name is Aramaic for a twin, and it was a description before it was a name — the Gospels use it as a byname. Whose twin is never stated, which has kept commentators busy for two thousand years.
How the name formed
- Te'oma
- Thomas
- Tom
- Tomie
Related forms: Tomás · Tommaso · Thomas · Tomás
Pronouncing Tomie
TOM-ee
Two syllables, stress at the front. Identical to Tommy; the single m is the only difference and it is invisible in speech.
Nicknames for Tomie
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1886
- Most boys named
- 191939 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #687reached in 1902
- Change vs 1979
- −16.7%5 in 1983, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Tomie in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Tomás in Spanish — related form
- Tommaso in Italian — related form
- Thomas in German — related form
- Tomás in Irish — related form
Tomies among us
people named Tomie are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Tomie sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The name behind it is ancient, universal and impossible to get wrong.
- It is warm on sight, as short forms are.
- Thomas sits behind it as a complete formal name.
- Tommy is the standard spelling and his will be written that way.
- It leans to boys, but a real share of children with this spelling are girls, so forms will sometimes guess wrong.
- It reads as a nickname, so the long form will be assumed on documents.
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What they receive
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Tomie
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Tomies are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 100 people named Tomie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Tomie in 2025?
- Tomie is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Tomie with classmates?
- Tomie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More T names
The most-given names starting with T, all years combined.
Thomas#34 · Timothy#203 · Tyler#219 · Terry#1115 · Theodore#4 · Travis#434 · Todd#1609 · Tony#783
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Tomie? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Tomie and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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