Tom Thumb is a traditional hero in English folklore who is no bigger than his father's thumb.

Various allusions to Tom Thumb are included in sixteenth century works; in his Discovery of Witchcraft, Reginald Scot includes Tom Thumbe in a list of folkloric creatures such as witches and satyrs that nursemaids told their charges about until the children were frightened of their own shadows.

Folktales featuring Tom Thumb as the hero appear in print in the seventeenth century.