Find out how popular the last name Thomas is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Thomas.

Thomas, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Thomas surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Thomas in America

Thomas is the 16th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Thomas surname appeared 756,142 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 256 people would have the surname Thomas.

We can also compare 2010 data for Thomas to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Thomas

The surname THOMAS originated in England and traces its roots back to the 12th century. It is derived from the given name Thomas, which comes from the Aramaic name 'Toma' meaning 'twin'. The name was popularized in Europe after one of the twelve apostles of Christ bore the name.

THOMAS is believed to have emerged as a surname during the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. As it became customary to adopt hereditary surnames, many individuals derived their last names from their given names or those of their ancestors. This surname is thought to have originated from the personal name of the father or an early ancestor.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname THOMAS can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which recorded landowners in England after the Norman Conquest. The name appears in various spellings, such as Thomas, Tomas, and Tommes, reflecting the regional pronunciation variations at the time.

In the 13th century, the surname THOMAS appeared in several historical records, including the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire, where a Ralph Thomas was mentioned in 1230. Another early record is from the Hundredorum Rolls of Oxfordshire, which listed a Richard Thomas in 1273.

Notable individuals with the surname THOMAS include:

1. Sir Rice ap Thomas (c. 1449-1531), a Welsh soldier and courtier who served under King Henry VII.
2. John Thomas (1805-1871), an American lawyer and politician who served as the 16th Governor of Maryland.
3. Theodore Thomas (1835-1905), an American violinist and conductor who founded the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
4. Dylan Thomas (1914-1953), a renowned Welsh poet and writer, best known for his work "Under Milk Wood".
5. Clarence Thomas (born 1948), an American lawyer and jurist who has served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 1991.

The surname THOMAS has also been associated with various place names in England, such as Thomastown in Gloucestershire and Thomastown in Yorkshire, which may have influenced the development of the surname in certain regions.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Thomas

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Thomas.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Thomas was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Thomas has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Thomas was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Thomas, please contact us.

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