Thompson surname meaning

Thompson means "Tom’s son"—Tom being the everyday short form of Thomas. English spellings often insert a p (Thompson); Scottish families more often use Thomson without it. Either way the type is parent's name: descent from a Thomas, not a craft.

Gaelic MacTavish and related forms were sometimes Englished as Thomson or Thompson, which is another path to the same written surname. A Norfolk village called Thompson exists, but the everyday US meaning is still the Thomas patronymic, not a map pin for most bearers.