977,410 Global Thompson Family Members

Thompson Family History

Family spelling variants include Tompson, Thomson, Tomson.

 

There are approximately 977,410 Thompson family members around the world. In general you can double this figure to include those related to the Thompson names to allow for those connected to the name through maiden name connections.

 

It is estimated that the largest group of Thompson family members live USA with 707,385 (72.4%) members, England with 100,678 (10.3%), Canada with 37,137 (5.8%), Australia with 50,055 (5.1%), South Africa with 34,373 (3.5%), Ireland with 9,543 (1%), New Zealand with 7,337 (0.8%), Scotland with 6,996 (0.7%) and Wales with 3,906 (0.4%) members.

 

An English patronymic from Thomas. Thompson is widely distributed throughout Britain, but is most common in northern England and Northern Ireland. Americanised form of Thomsen.

 

An English relationship name from the Middle English personal name T(h)om(me) + -son ‘son of Tom ’.

 

Originally, of course, the name Thomas is biblical, derived from Aramaic, and possibly meaning 'twin'.

 

Early bearers of the surname include: John Thompson, 1349 in Whitby Chartulary (NR Yorks); John Thomesson ‘Scot’, 1375 in London Pleas; Ralph Thommyssone, 1381 in Subsidy Rolls (Suffolk); John Tommesson, 1382 in Assize Rolls (Cambs); William Tomsone, 1395 in The East Anglian (Cambs).

 

James Thompson, an English convict born in Kent, was sentenced to life and transported aboard the "Moffatt" ship on 5 May 1836, arriving in New South Wales, Australia.

 

In 1891, there were 93,750 occurrences in England and Wales and a further 3,794 in Scotland.

 

In 1881, the surname was widespread especially in North England. Further South, the county of Kent was a top county with 1,947 occurrences.

 

In 1881, the most common Thompson occupation in the UK was Farmer. Farmer, Coal Miner and Labourer were the top 3 reported jobs worked by Thompson. A less common occupation was Agricultural Labourer.

 

1881, 1891 Census

1881 Census in Kent

Dictionary of American Family Homes, P Hanks OUP 2003

Homes of Family Names in Great Britain, H.B. Guppy, London 1890

The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, P.Hanks, Coats, McClure OUP 2016

1860 Lower, Mark A Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom, London: J.R Smith. Public Domain

1857 Arthur, William An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman. Public Domain

https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/thompson/james/32746

J.M.P