Thomes
An English name of unclear origin, possibly derived from Thomas.
Name Census estimates that about 193 living Americans carry the first name Thomes. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Thomes today is around 72 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Thomes births was 1944 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Thomes. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Thomes is about 72 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Thomes' were born before 1964.
People living today
193
~ 1 in 1,775,929 Americans
Peak year
1944
19 babies that year
Average age
72
years old
1980 SSA rank
#7,209
Tracked since 1917
Census
Thomes in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 145 people with the first name Thomes, which placed it at #46,211 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#46,211
National first-name rank
People counted
145
145 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Thomes
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thomes is White at 71.7%. The next largest groups are Black (15.2%) and Hispanic (8.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Thomes described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Thomes at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.7% · 104
- Black or African American15.2% · 22
- Hispanic or Latino8.3% · 12
- Two or more races2.8% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 3
Popularity
Thomes: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Thomes from the 1910s through to the 1980s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 90 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Thomes by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Thomes during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Thomes
The name Thomes finds its roots in ancient Greek, derived from the word "thomos," meaning "a twin." It is closely related to the name Thomas, which has a similar etymology. The earliest known record of the name dates back to the 5th century AD, when it was mentioned in a Greek manuscript describing the lives of saints.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Thomes of Neocaesarea, a 4th-century Christian martyr who was tortured and executed for his faith during the reign of Roman Emperor Diocletian. His story is recounted in various hagiographies and religious texts from that era.
In the 9th century, a monk named Thomes the Wonderworker lived in the Byzantine Empire. He was renowned for his piety and is said to have performed numerous miracles, including healing the sick and exorcising demons. His life and deeds are chronicled in the "Vita Thomae" (Life of Thomes), a hagiographical text written by his disciples.
During the Middle Ages, the name Thomes appeared in several historical records across Europe. One notable figure was Thomes of Celano, an Italian friar and biographer who lived in the 13th century. He is best known for writing the "Vita Prima" (First Life) and "Vita Secunda" (Second Life), which are seminal biographies of St. Francis of Assisi.
In the 15th century, Thomes Malory, an English writer and author of the famous "Le Morte d'Arthur," a compilation of tales about the legendary King Arthur and his knights, was born around 1416. His work is considered one of the most influential pieces of Arthurian literature and a cornerstone of English prose.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Thomes Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI in the 16th century. He played a significant role in the English Reformation and was responsible for the first officially approved English version of the Book of Common Prayer.
While the name Thomes has its roots in ancient Greek and has been documented throughout history, it remains relatively uncommon in modern times, especially in comparison to its more prevalent counterpart, Thomas.
People
Thomes + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Thomes as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Thomes: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thomes?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 193 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Thomes going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,775,929 US residents.
Is Thomes a common name?
We classify Thomes as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 411 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Thomes most popular?
The single biggest year for Thomes was 1944, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Thomes is about 72 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Thomes in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 145 people with the name Thomes, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #46,211 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Thomes in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Thomes?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Thomes appears almost entirely male. Of the 146 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Thomes?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thomes is White at 71.7%. The next largest groups are Black (15.2%) and Hispanic (8.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Thomes most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Thomes in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.7% (104 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Thomes in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Thomes a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Thomes in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Thomes still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Thomes in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Thomes can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Thomes?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.