MAXIM THOMAS

Russian: from the Latin cognomen Maximus ‘greatest’, later used as a given name. This was the name of a very large number of early saints, including a Byzantine theologian and mystic (c.580–662) who was persecuted under the Emperor Constans. Maxim Gorki was the pseudonym adopted by the Russian writer Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (1868–1936). The name is now also used in the English-speaking world.

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.