<P> Thompson is a patronymic surname of English and Scottish origin , with a variety of spellings meaning `` son of Thom '' . An alternative origin may be geographical , arising from the placename Thompson . Thom ( p ) son is the English translation of MacTavish , which is also the Anglicized version of the Gaelic name of MacTamhais . During the Plantation period , settlers carried the name to Ireland . It is the 14th most common surname in the United Kingdom and 17th most common in the United States . According to the 1990 United States Census , Thompson was the seventeenth most frequently reported surname , accounting for 0.27 % of the population . </P>
<P> Thompson is a patronymic surname of English and Scottish origin , with a variety of spellings meaning `` son of Thom '' . An alternative origin may be geographical , arising from the placename Thompson . Thom ( p ) son is the English translation of MacTavish , which is also the Anglicized version of the Gaelic name of MacTamhais . During the Plantation period , settlers carried the name to Ireland . It is the 14th most common surname in the United Kingdom and 17th most common in the United States . According to the 1990 United States Census , Thompson was the seventeenth most frequently reported surname , accounting for 0.27 % of the population . </P>
where did the last name thompson come from
where did the last name thompson come from
Thompson is a patronymic surname of English and Scottish origin , with a variety of spellings meaning `` son of Thom '' . An alternative origin may be geographical , arising from the placename Thompson . Thom ( p ) son is the English translation of MacTavish , which is also the Anglicized version of the Gaelic name of MacTamhais .
Thompson is a patronymic surname of English and Scottish origin , with a variety of spellings meaning `` son of Thom '' . An alternative origin may be geographical , arising from the placename Thompson . Thom ( p ) son is the English translation of MacTavish , which is also the Anglicized version of the Gaelic name of MacTamhais .