Other famous bearers include philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), American president Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), novelist Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), and inventor Thomas Edison (1847-1931). Several famous actors are named Thomas, although are popularly known as Tom: Thomas Andrew 'Tom' Felton, famous for his role as Draco Malfoy in the "Harry Potter" films, Thomas William 'Tom' Hiddleston, Edward Thomas 'Tom' Hardy, Thomas Jeffery 'Tom' Hanks and Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (Tom Cruise). The name also has a literary history, with T.S Eliot, Thomas Hardy and Thomas Moore. The name Thomas is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin". Oliver has been the most popular name for boys for the past six years and it is the third year running that Olivia has been the most popular name for girls. Oliver and Olivia remained the most popular baby names in 2018. Arthur was the only new entry in the top 10 names for boys in 2018. See the popularity of the boy's name Thomas over time, plus its meaning, origin, common sibling names, and more in BabyCenter's Baby Names tool. It came about because there were too many apostles named Judas; Jesus renamed one Thomas—meaning "twin"—to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot and the Judas also known as Thaddeus. Thomas is the Greek variation of the Aramaic name Ta’oma’. Note on the data: I calculated absolute rises and falls by subtracting the number of births in the name's least popular year from the number of births in the name's most popular year. Olivia and Oliver are still the most popular baby names in the UK; In 2020, the UK is likely to see some more unusual baby names topping the lists of most popular Thomas gained the most popularity as a baby name in 1912, when it's usage went up by … At first, it was used only for priests. Thomas (masculine) Thomas (feminine) Year Rank Percent Used Rank Percent Used : 2018 #49: 0.351-- Another notable saint by this name was the 13th-century Italian philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas, who is regarded as a Doctor of the Church.