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.
An English and Welsh patronymic surname meaning "son of Thomas," derived from the Aramaic personal name meaning "twin."
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.
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.
2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
---|---|---|---|
Rank | 16 | 14 | 13.33% |
Count | 756,142 | 710,696 | 6.20% |
Proportion per 100k | 256.34 | 263.45 | -2.74% |
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:
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.
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:
For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Thomas was:
Race/Ethnicity | Percentage | Total Occurrences |
---|---|---|
Non-Hispanic White Only | 52.63% | 397,958 |
Non-Hispanic Black Only | 38.75% | 293,005 |
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only | 2.44% | 18,450 |
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native | 1.07% | 8,091 |
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races | 2.58% | 19,508 |
Hispanic Origin | 2.54% | 19,206 |
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.
2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
---|---|---|---|
White | 52.63% | 55.53% | -5.36% |
Black | 38.75% | 38.17% | 1.51% |
Asian and Pacific Islander | 2.44% | 1.63% | 39.80% |
American Indian and Alaskan Native | 1.07% | 1.01% | 5.77% |
Two or More Races | 2.58% | 2.00% | 25.33% |
Hispanic | 2.54% | 1.66% | 41.90% |
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.
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"Thomas last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on October 3, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/thomas-surname-popularity/.
"Thomas last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/thomas-surname-popularity/. Accessed 3 October, 2024
Thomas last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/thomas-surname-popularity/.
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