Tom

masc. proper name, from Greek Thomas, of Aramaic origin and said to mean "a twin" (John's gospel refers to Thomas as ho legomenos didymos "called the twin;" compare Syriac toma "twin," Arabic tau'am "twin"). Before the Conquest, found only as the name of a priest, but after 1066, one of the most common given names in English. Also see Tom, Tommy. Doubting Thomas is from John xx.25. A Thomist (1530s, from Medieval Latin Thomista, mid-14c.) is a follower of 13c. scholastic theologian St. Thomas Aquinas.

also tom-cat, 1809, from Tom + cat (n.); probably influenced by Tom the Cat in the popular children's book "The Life and Adventures of a Cat" (1760). It replaced earlier Gib-cat (see Gib), from the familiar shortening of Gilbert, though Tom was applied to male kittens c. 1300. The name also has been used of the males of other beasts and birds since at least 1791 (such as tom-turkey, by 1846). Also see Tibert. The verb meaning "to pursue women promiscuously for sexual gratification" is recorded from 1927. Related: Tom-catting.