THOMAS ROSE

New Testament name, borne by one of Christ's twelve apostles, referred to as ‘Thomas, called Didymus’ (John 11:16; 20:24). Didymos is the Greek word for ‘twin’, and the name is the Greek form of an Aramaic byname meaning ‘twin’. The given name has always been popular throughout Christendom, in part because St Thomas's doubts have made him seem a very human character.

English, Scottish, French, and German: from the name of the flower, Middle English, Old French, Middle High German rose (Latin rosa), in various applications. In part it is a topographic name for someone who lived at a place where wild roses grew, or a habitational name for someone living at a house bearing the sign of the rose. It is also found, especially in Europe, as a nickname for a man with a ‘rosy’ complexion. As an American surname, this name has absorbed cognates and similarsounding names from other European languages.