Tomica
A feminine name of Japanese origin meaning "wise beauty" or "precious gem".
Name Census estimates that about 525 living Americans carry the first name Tomica. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tomica today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tomica births was 1977 (60 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tomica. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
525
~ 1 in 652,865 Americans
Peak year
1977
60 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
1993 SSA rank
#10,526
Tracked since 1969
Census
Tomica in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 484 people with the first name Tomica, which placed it at #21,098 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#21,098
National first-name rank
People counted
484
484 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
80.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tomica
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tomica is Black at 80.2%. The next largest groups are White (12.0%) and Hispanic (4.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Tomica described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Tomica at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American80.2% · 388
- White12.0% · 58
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 20
- Two or more races2.9% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Popularity
Tomica: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tomica from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 406 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tomica by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Tomica during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tomicas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Texas, North Carolina, Illinois recorded the most babies named Tomica, while South Carolina, Michigan, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tomica
The name Tomica has its origins in the Slavic languages, specifically in the Serbian and Croatian tongues. Its roots can be traced back to the Middle Ages, deriving from the Slavic word "toma," which means "twin." This etymology suggests a connection to the biblical figure Thomas the Apostle, whose name translates to "twin" in Aramaic.
In the early medieval period, the name Tomica gained popularity across the Balkan region, particularly among the Serbs and Croats. It was often bestowed upon children born as twins or in close succession to another sibling, symbolizing the close bond they shared from birth.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Tomica can be found in various historical documents and manuscripts from the 11th and 12th centuries. One notable example is the "Miroslav Gospel," a lavishly illustrated medieval manuscript from the late 12th century, which mentions a scribe named Tomica who contributed to its creation.
Throughout the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Tomica. One of the earliest was Tomica Ohmućević (c. 1420-1468), a Croatian nobleman and military leader who fought against the Ottoman Empire's expansion into the Balkans during the 15th century.
Another prominent figure was Tomica Tomić (c. 1575-1630), a Serbian Orthodox monk and writer who authored several religious texts and served as the Metropolitan Bishop of Dabar-Bosnia in the early 17th century.
In the 19th century, Tomica Bunjevac (1809-1888) was a Serbian writer, poet, and teacher who played a significant role in the cultural and literary revival of the Bunjevci people, an ethnic Serb community in modern-day Croatia and Hungary.
The name Tomica also gained recognition in the field of sports, with Tomica Petrović (1908-1986), a Serbian football player who represented the Kingdom of Yugoslavia at the 1930 FIFA World Cup in Uruguay.
More recently, Tomica Milosavljević (1938-2017) was a renowned Serbian film director and screenwriter, best known for his critically acclaimed films such as "Večernja zvona" (Evening Bells) and "Čuvar plaže u zimskom periodu" (Beach Guard in Winter).
While the name Tomica has its roots in the Slavic cultures of the Balkans, its historical significance and enduring use have made it a part of the broader cultural heritage of the region, transcending linguistic and ethnic boundaries.
People
Tomica + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tomica as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Tomica: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tomica?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 525 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tomica going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 652,865 US residents.
Is Tomica a common name?
We classify Tomica as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 574 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tomica most popular?
The single biggest year for Tomica was 1977, when 60 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tomica is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tomica in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 484 people with the name Tomica, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,098 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Tomica in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Tomica?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tomica leans strongly female. 466 people counted with this name were female (96.7%), compared with 16 male bearers (3.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Tomica?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tomica is Black at 80.2%. The next largest groups are White (12.0%) and Hispanic (4.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Tomica most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tomica in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.2% (388 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Tomica in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tomica a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tomica in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Tomica still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tomica in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Tomica can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Tomica?
See how many people share the name Tomica on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.