Meaning and background
The story behind Thomas
Thomas entered European naming through Biblical tradition and ultimately an Aramaic word meaning “twin”. It was borne by an apostle in the New Testament and became widespread in many language traditions. As a dog name, it offers an unusually formal alternative to Tom or Tommy; the historical word does not suggest that a dog actually has a twin.
- Origin
- Biblical personal name from Aramaic te’oma, “twin”, transmitted through Greek and Latin. Source
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About Thomas
Recorded as a dog’s name
Thomas appears in 14 dog licence records in the 2026 New York City dataset.
How to read this count
These records cover New York City and may count the same dog in more than one licence period. They are not a national popularity ranking.
Pronunciation and rhythm
/tɑməs/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the first syllable in the recorded US readings.
View dictionary notation
/tɑməs/ · primary stress on syllable 1T AA1 M AH0 S
These are US dictionary readings. Personal, regional and other language pronunciations may differ.
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Sources and research notes (2)
- New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene NYC Dog Licensing Dataset — extract_year 2026 — Dog licence periods, not unique dogs; NYC only. No owner-level fields retrieved.
- Carnegie Mellon University / CMU Sphinx maintainers CMU US English Pronouncing Dictionary — US English dictionary readings; not owner-specific or exhaustive multilingual pronunciation
References support the individual facts shown. A source link does not mean the entire profile has been verified.