A minor point, but I've often wondered why they gave Tom's name to the middle son and NOT their firstborn child. Was David supposed to be Joan's son by an earlier marriage who got adopted by Tom or did they simply not want to immortalize Tom's name when they had David but then changed their minds when Tommy came along? Was this ever explained?

Was Tom's full name ever mentioned? In my case, I'm the oldest of 4 brothers and was given the first name Charles for both grandfathers and the middle name David for my dad. His birth name is Gary David and the next born was given his first name. If Tom's full name is Thomas David or vice-versa then there you go.

Talk to the real-life Bradens (EiE is based on them) about that. They are the ones who named their children and the show went by that. If you notice, they also named the 2nd daughter (Joanie) after the mother (Joan). So, the 2nd son and the 2nd daughter were named after their parents. Maybe someone needs to ask the Bradens.

Interesting thread. Because usually the "jr. is the eldest child - but there's certainly no hard or fast rule on this!