LAUREN THOMAS

Apparently modelled on Laurence, this was first used, or at any rate first brought to public attention, by the film actress Lauren Bacall (b. 1924 as Betty Jean Perske), famous for her partnership with Humphrey Bogart. They appeared together in several films, notably To Have and Have Not (1943) and The Big Sleep (1946). The name was extremely popular throughout the 1990s. See also Loren.

English, French, German, Dutch, Danish, and South Indian: from the medieval personal name, of Biblical origin, from Aramaic t’ōm’a, a byname meaning ‘twin’. It was borne by one of the disciples of Christ, best known for his scepticism about Christ's resurrection (John 20:24–29). The th- spelling is organic, the initial letter of the name in the Greek New Testament being a theta. The English pronunciation as t rather than th- is the result of French influence from an early date. In Britain the surname is widely distributed throughout the country, but especially common in Wales and Cornwall. The Ukrainian form is Choma. It is found as a personal name among Christians in India, and in the U.S. is used as a family name among families from southern India.