The story
- Aramaicתאמא
- Aramaicתאומא (təʾōmā)
- Ancient GreekΘωμᾶς (Thōmâs)
- LatinThōmās
- Middle EnglishThomas
- Middle EnglishThomme
- EnglishTom
- Englishtom
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰā-
- Proto-Germanic*bō-
- Proto-West Germanic*bōjō
- Old English*bōia
- Middle Englishboye
- Englishboy
- English todaytomboy
From tom + boy. First attested in Ralph Roister Doister (published 1567, written circa 1552), where it is used to describe a boisterous girl; the OED says the citation is however "generally taken" to mean a boisterous boy, and says that a use in The Old Law (published 1656, thought to have been written circa 1599) "certainly" means a boy: "must young court-tits / play tomboys' tricks with her?" By 1579 it was attested in the meaning "an immodest woman", and by no later than 1592 it had developed its modern meaning of a “girl who acts like a boy”.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.