Meaning Aramaic "twin" (toma); the Greek New Testament also gives the Greek translation Didymos, "twin."
Figure Apostle ("doubting Thomas"); also Thomas Aquinas, Thomas More, and other major saints.
Feast day July 3 (Catholic, Anglican); October 6 (Orthodox); January 28 (Thomas Aquinas, Catholic); June 22 (Thomas More, Catholic)
Traditions CATHOLICORTHODOXANGLICANPROTESTANT
In the Christian tradition
Thomas is the apostle whose declared need to see and touch the risen Christ (John 20:24-29) and whose subsequent confession ("My Lord and my God!") have shaped Christian devotional tradition. Three other major Christian figures share the name: Thomas Aquinas (the great Dominican theologian); Thomas More (English chancellor and martyr); and Thomas à Kempis (author of The Imitation of Christ). The Catholic Church commemorates the apostle on July 3, Aquinas on January 28, and More on June 22.
Thomas the Apostle has been honored across the Christian traditions for his confession at John 20:28 ("My Lord and my God!"), one of the highest christological declarations in the New Testament. Tradition holds that he preached the gospel as far as India, and the Mar Thoma Christians of southern India trace their lineage through him. Of the post-biblical Thomases, Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) is the great theologian of the Catholic tradition, the author of the Summa Theologiae and the Adoro Te Devote; Thomas More (1478-1535) is the English chancellor and martyr (canonized in 1935) who refused to recognize Henry VIII's break with Rome; Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380-1471) is the traditional author of The Imitation of Christ, the most widely-read Catholic devotional work after the Bible. The name has been in continuous Christian use across all the traditions and remains common in modern English-speaking Christian families.