My friend Tom often goes out with me.

[Tan Elaine]

My friend Tom often goes out with me.
My friend, Tom, often goes out with me.

I sometimes see a pair of commas enclosing the name of the person, and in other instances, there are no commas in similar sentences.

I would like to know which sentence is correctly punctuated. If both are correctly punctuated, is there a difference in meaning?

Thanks.

 

[J&K Tutoring]

1. My friend Tom often goes out with me.
You are talking to some unnamed person. You have a friend. Your friend's name is Tom. He often goes out with you.

2. My friend, Tom, often goes out with me.
You are talking to Tom. You have an unnamed friend. That friend often goes out with you.

There is a third possibility: An attributive clause is often set apart by commas: My friend, whose name is Tom, often goes out with me. This has the same meaning as #1

 

[Tan Elaine]

Thanks, J&K Tutoring.

My friend,Tom, often goes out with me.

Do the commas imply that I have only one friend? For example: My father, who loves me very much, is a
doctor. Here I can have one father only. I cannot have more than one anyway.

On the other hand, does My friend Tom often goes out with me imply I have more than one friend?