Foma as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Foma

What is the meaning of the name Foma ?

The baby name Foma is a Male name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced /ˈfo.mə/ (FOH-mah).

Foma is Russian in Origin.

Foma (Фома) is the East Slavic form of Thomas, carried into Russian through Church Slavonic from Greek Thōmâs and ultimately Aramaic Ta’ōma’, meaning “twin.” In Orthodox tradition the name honors the Apostle Thomas, anchoring its use across Rus’ and later Russia; pronunciation is fo-MAH.

The name was common in medieval parish records and folk speech, then declined in the Soviet era; today it feels traditional and slightly archaic, with periodic revival among devout families and lovers of classic literature. Foma appears in Maxim Gorky’s novel Foma Gordeyev and in Dostoevsky’s comic figure Foma Fomich. East Slavic diminutives include Fomka, Fomushka, and Fomochka; the related patronymic is Fomich, and the surname Fomin derives from it. Cognates and variants across languages include Thomas (English), Tomás (Spanish/Irish), Tomas (Scandinavian/Lithuanian), Tomáš (Czech/Slovak), Tommaso (Italian), Toma (South Slavic/Romanian), Tomé (Portuguese), and Polish Tomasz with diminutive Tomek.