Thompson
Masculine · “son of Thomas”
Thompson is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 2,725 boys against 23 girls since 1880.
Thompson is son of Thomas, and Thomas is Aramaic for a twin — which is all the apostle's name says about him.
How old is the name Thompson?
Thompson first appears in US birth records in 1882 — 143 years ago. The typical Thompson alive today was born around 1989, making them about 36 years old. About 1,900 people named Thompson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Thompson most popular?
Thompson peaked in 1887, reaching #679 nationally. Today it ranks #2332, 1,653 places below that high. See the whole 1887 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From te'oma to Thompson
The story of Thompson
Thomas is not a personal name in Aramaic but a description — the twin — and whose twin has never been settled. The gospel translates it into Greek as if readers needed telling. Thompson is among the commonest English surnames. It entered American given-name use recently and is in current use.
Meaning
son of Thomas, son of the twin
A patronymic from Thomas, from the Aramaic te'oma, 'twin'. John's gospel glosses it with the Greek Didymus, also 'twin'. The intrusive p in Thompson is a spelling development. The chain is documented.
How the name formed
- te'oma
- Thomas
- Thompson
Related forms: Thomson · Thomson
Pronouncing Thompson
TOM-sun
Two syllables, stress on the first. The p is silent; Thomson and Thompson are homophones.
Nicknames for Thompson
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1882
- Most boys named
- 202559 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #679reached in 1887
- Change vs 2022
- +15.7%59 in 2025, from 51
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Thompson in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Thomson in English — spelling variant
- Thomson in Scottish — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Georgia.
Thompsons among us
people named Thompson are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 28,950 born in 2025 was named Thompson
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Thompson sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Thompson is headed
Thompson is easing off slowly — about 19% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Thompson beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Thompson in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That Thomas means only 'the twin' and nobody knows whose is a first-rate fact.
- Tommy is available as a short form with a large record.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- It reads unmistakably as a surname.
- Thomson without the p is the Scottish spelling.
- The silent p invites constant correction.
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What they receive
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Thompson
Masculine · #2332 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Thompsons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,900 people named Thompson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Thompson in 2025?
- Thompson ranks #2332 among US boy names in 2025, with 59 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Thompson?
- About 1 in every 28,950 US boys born in 2025 was named Thompson — 59 in all.
- Will my child share the name Thompson with classmates?
- Thompson will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Thompson
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rishaan#2332 · Harlen#2332 · Kobi#2332 · Keyon#2332 · Oak#2332 · Layth#2332 · Merlin#2332 · Skye#2332
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Thompson? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Thompson and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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