Ok, I guess the gig is up and I should present the reason for Thomas not Tom. It goes back to the fact that TM is not only Thomas but Thomas III. A likely scenario of his life is this: Sometime in his early age, he was living in an extended family arrangement--grandparents and immediate family. This meant that there were three people with the same name. As a result, the grandmother devised this remedy: She would call these three males in the following ways:
1 Tom, for her husband
2 Thomas for her son (already likely the custom so as to differentiate the two;
3 Little Thomas for TM (Tommy could have been used but wasn't; maybe still too confusing.)
But this not all. TM's siblings in the home called him merely "Thomas" because it was well understood. But they couldn't call him "Tom" because this was reserved for the most honored in the household. Contrarily kids in the neighborhood all knew TM as simply "Tom" though sometimes "Magnum" when angry. Because of age difference, rarely were TM's siblings enjoined with play with his friends. But on those rare occasions they used "Tom" in keeping with the neighborhood norm of using nicknames for people.
Ok, so far so good, right? What happens later in TM's young adulthood is that both Thomas and Tom are equally fine. In fact, Thomas may even have deeper emotional attachment because that was his name within his family growing up. It so happens that TM already going by "Tom" as the custom in the US, lives with an uncle and his family due to a conflict in his immediate family. His uncle (modernistic) and four of his five children use Tom with him. However, his aunt, native-born to Ireland and so perhaps a bit conservative, asked him what name was he called in his family at home. "Thomas," he replied. So that became what the aunt used and the 5th child followed--he being the middle child and highly protected by the aunt.
While TM's best friend at the "Point" apparently used "Tom" with him by virtue of the fact that the friend's little sister also, he can equally feel fine by Thomas if used by intimates. Indeed this is helpful because sometimes social distance is needed with subordinates. Even if they use the formal name of Thomas, TM still feels intimacy based on his history. Thus, in MPI Rick states that TM was the CO for both Rick and TC. TM could say, you can call me Thomas while satisfying intimacy needs but still maintaining some formal social relations. No one ever flinched especially TM and "Thomas" just stuck going forward.
Everyone, this my story: My real name is Markson Sullivan de Croix. Basically my life dovetailed with TM's above and I lived first-hand in those households as described. Originally I was LIttle Markson by my grandmother, etc. I believe most people who became the III-generation with the same name in a family likely had similar experience!
![Magnum! :magnum:](./images/smilies/icon_magnum.gif)