THOMPSON as a surname its meaning and origin

This well-known name is one of the patronymic forms of the name Thom or Tom, a shortened form of the male personal name Thomas. This name is of biblical origin and is an Aramaic byname meaning "twin" held by one of Christ's disciples. In England, the name Thomas was found only as a priest's name before the Norman Conquest of 1066, but later became one of the most popular male personal names, giving rise to a variety of surnames. Patronymic forms from minor names such as Thomson (Scottish form) and Thompson, found primarily in England and Northern Ireland, appeared in the 14th century, with the first records from Scotland. The "p" in English and Irish was added for ease of pronunciation, but some say the "p" means "prisoner," while others say it means "Protestant" in Ireland, both of which are incorrect. Early records include John Thompson, mentioned in a charter of Whitby Abbey, Yorkshire, in 1349, and Thomas Thomson, who married Elizabeth Harris in St. John's Church, Dublin, on December 12, 1631. The earliest coat of arms is probably the following, given in Yorkshire in 1559. A fess of silver and black, between three falcons fesswise, opposite, gilt border, beaked and wedged. The coat of arms is a gold tinned arm; William Thompson, who is recorded as "living at Elizabeth Sitty, Virginia" before February 16, 1623, was one of the earliest settlers on the New Continent. The first recorded spelling of the family name is that of John Thomson, as given in the "Annals of Scotland" of 1318, during the reign of King Robert I of Scotland, known as "Bruce," from 1306 to 1329. It was not until the government introduced personal taxation that surnames became necessary. In England, this was known as the poll tax. Over the centuries, surnames in all countries continued to "evolve," often creating surprising variants from the original spellings.