where did the last name thompson come from
Thompson (surname) Thompson is a patronymic surname of English and Scottish origin, with a variety of spellings meaning "son of Thom".[2] An alternative origin may be geographical, arising from the placename Thompson.[3] Thom(p)son is the English translation of MacTavish, which is also the Anglicized version of the Gaelic name of MacTamhais.[4][5] 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.[6] According to the 1990 United States Census, Thompson was the seventeenth most frequently reported surname, accounting for 0.27% of the population.[7]