How rare is the name Tom?

118,350 people in the United States have the first name Tom, about 1 in 2,552. It ranks #479 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

TOM

#479

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
118,350
About
1 in 2,552
This common or more
57.7%
Who bears it

Of the 118,350 people named Tom, 83.6% reported their origin as White, 6.7% as Asian or Pacific Islander and 3.7% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are male (99.7%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Tom peaked in 1959, when 5,080 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1959
Births that year
5,080
In 2025*
65 ▼99%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 140,370 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Tom by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #129. The largest share of babies named Tom, 41.5%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#1293,798
1890s#1883,341
1900s#2423,312
1910s#3207,725
1920s#31712,065
1930s#25716,526
1940s#20429,983
1950s#29423,808
1960s#25429,264
1970s#7784,882
1980s#1,4441,984
1990s#2,1091,454
2000s#3,1291,097
2010s#4,152786
2020s#5,099345
Before 19015.4%
Greatest Generation 1901–2714.3%
Silent Generation 1928–4525.3%
Baby boom 1946–6441.5%
Generation X 1965–809.7%
Millennials 1981–962%
Generation Z 1997–121.2%
2013 and later0.6%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Tom is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Tom has been most common in Montana (2.7×), Wyoming (2.5×), and Iowa (2.3×), and least common in Rhode Island (0.12×).

125,703 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Tom

#477 Hayden · 118,666#478 Leo · 118,356#480 Yvonne · 118,154#481 Katelyn · 117,578

Spelled almost the same

7 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Tom, most common first.

#5,880 Tomi · 2,819#11,364 Toma · 1,132#11,512 Ton · 1,109#13,752 Tomy · 871#28,745 Tomo · 311#31,336 Tome · 274#47,034 Tomm · 140

Also a last name

As a last name, Tom ranks #3,376 of 156,621, with 10,364 people. See Tom as a last name

Compare