Thomson

//ˈtɒm.sən// name

name ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A British surname transferred from the given name. countable
  2. 2
    A British surname transferred from the given name.; A Scottish surname from Scottish Gaelic. countable, uncountable
  3. 3
    A place in the United States:; A city, the county seat of McDuffie County, Georgia. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    A place in the United States:; A village in Carroll County, Illinois. countable, uncountable
  5. 5
    A place in the United States:; A former city in Carlton County, Minnesota, now merged into the city of Carlton. countable, uncountable
Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    A place in the United States:; A hamlet in the town of Greenwich, Washington County, New York. countable, uncountable
  2. 7
    A neighbourhood of Singapore, named after Thomson Road, which was named after John Turnbull Thomson. countable, uncountable
  3. 8
    A suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, named after Alexander Thomson (pioneer). countable, uncountable
  4. 9
    A locality in the Shire of Baw Baw, south eastern Victoria, Australia. countable, uncountable

Example

More examples

"JJ Thomson was an English scientist."

Etymology

From Tom + -son, originally meaning "son of Thomas". In some instances of people so named, a calque of Scottish Gaelic MacTamhais (“MacTavish”). Also an anglicisation of the Gaelic name MacTamhais, meaning "son of Thomas". Many with the name MacTavish changed their name to Thomson and Thompson after Culloden. Being derived from Thomas ultimately gives this surname an Aramaic derivation - teoma 'twin'.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.