Tome

Boys' name

Meaning unconfirmed; recorded in an 1884 name reference

Tome has been given to 68 babies in the U.S. since 1915. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1919, with 10 recorded.

Babies named Tome, 1972

1 in 629,000

Tome over time, 1880–2025

Boys

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Tome: meaning, origin, and history

Meaning unconfirmed; recorded in an 1884 name reference

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Tome means

Tome is a given name.

The naming story behind Tome

Charlotte M. Yonge’s 1884 History of Christian Names includes the exact spelling Tome in its glossary. The entry labels it masculine and points to printed page(s) 21.

The glossary’s abbreviated description reads: “Span. Aram. twin”. This is the historical author’s wording, including its language abbreviations and any proposed interpretation. It is presented as historical evidence, not as a verified modern translation. Victorian classifications and root explanations can differ from later linguistic research.

For Tome, the current short meaning therefore remains unconfirmed. Establishing its modern etymology requires a current reference that documents the exact form and its relationship to the proposed earlier words.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 68 boys were recorded with the name Tome between 1915 and 1972. Its highest annual count was 10 in 1919; its best national rank was #2,853 in 1919.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Tome?

Tome had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1972, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1972: 1 in 629,000; 5 of 3,142,796 births
Among boys only: 1 in 324,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 1972: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 435,685 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Tome sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 1972 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 435,685 children born in 1972 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Tome. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Tomes were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Tome was born before 1921 — so the typical Tome is around 104 today.

Median birth year: 1921; About 104 years old
Biggest decade: 1910s; 38.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 7.4%; Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950: 5; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1910s — 38.2% of all recorded uses (26).

Is Tome rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1919 (10)
Years since peak: 106; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 42.2% average annual change
Best rank ever: #2,853; 1919

Spellings of Tome

Tome is not the most common spelling — Jose is, with 23.4% against Tome's <0.01%.

Jose23.4%592,512
Joe17.9%453,255
Todd11.1%282,330
Tony9.9%251,595
Tommy7.1%178,733
Cole6.1%154,093
Tom5.5%139,756
Tim3.3%83,358

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Tome around the world

Where Tome ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

France
1996–2024
#3,547
in 2024
South Australia
1980–1994
#531
in 1994

Popularity data from Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Tome by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #2,853; 1919
Peak year: 1919; 10 that year
First recorded: 1915
Last recorded: 1972
All-time count: 68
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Tome

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Tomi Tomasi Tomaz Rhome Toma Tomio Tomar Tomer Tomoya Tommas Tomo Khrome Tommye Tommi Chrome Tomy Tommey Tomey Tomm Tomoki Tomasz Tomothy Nahome Tomias

Sibling names for Tome

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Lovie Hortense Lue Rubye Winnifred Johnie Norine Vina

For a brother

Casimir Edd Ora Mahlon Verne Haywood Buck Wilber

Explore around Tome

Top names of 1919, Tome's peak year The 1910s in full Other names that peaked in 1919 Boys' names starting with T Galician Boy Names