# Thompson (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/thompson/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “son of thomas”, “mctavish” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈtɑmp.sən/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Tompson, Tomson, Thomson, Thomason, Thomasson |
| US babies named this | 2,748 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 2,725 / 23 (1% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 12, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Variant of Thomson, from Tom + -son, originally meaning "son of Thomas". In some instances of people so named, a calque of Scottish Gaelic MacTamhais (“McTavish”); also an anglicisation of the Gaelic name MacTamhais, meaning "son of Thomas".

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 5 | 18,218 |
| 2022 | 8 | 12,149 |
| 2024 | 5 | 17,474 |
| 2025 | 5 | 17,051 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 26 | 3,974 |
| 2012 | 36 | 3,168 |
| 2013 | 33 | 3,331 |
| 2014 | 37 | 3,084 |
| 2015 | 56 | 2,352 |
| 2016 | 51 | 2,512 |
| 2017 | 55 | 2,380 |
| 2018 | 76 | 1,956 |
| 2019 | 61 | 2,288 |
| 2020 | 51 | 2,542 |
| 2021 | 61 | 2,298 |
| 2022 | 51 | 2,643 |
| 2023 | 34 | 3,466 |
| 2024 | 43 | 2,950 |
| 2025 | 59 | 2,359 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 3 | 3,036 |
| 2007 | 3 | 4,333 |
| 2016 | 3 | 4,810 |
| 2017 | 3 | 4,812 |

## People named Thompson

- Thompson Mann, American swimmer (1942–2019)
- Thomas McKean Thompson McKennan, American politician (1794-1852)
- Alfred Thompson Bricher, American painter (1837-1908)
- Zoey Deutch, American actress
- E. A. Wallis Budge, British academic (1857–1934)
- Les Baxter, American musician, singer, composer (1922–1996)
- Nick Swisher, American baseball player
- Henry Nicholas, American businessman and convicted felon
- Patrick Vallance, British physician (born 1960)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.