Tompkins
A surname of English origin meaning “Thomas’s son,” built from the pet form Tom and the patronymic ending -kins.
The #1,485 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 12,834 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Tompkins is a patronymic surname formed from Tom, a familiar short form of Thomas, plus the diminutive/patronymic suffix -kin(s). In effect, it means “little Tom” or “Tom’s descendant,” and in surname use it came to mean “son of Thomas.” Older surname dictionaries often grouped it with many other English names ending in -kins, which arose as affectionate or familiar forms of personal names.
History
The name belongs to a widespread English surname type that became common in medieval and early modern England. Historical surname writers also treated it as part of the broad Thomas family of surnames, alongside Tompson, Tomlinson, Tomsett, and similar forms. It is well established in English-speaking countries today, especially in Britain and the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname scholars sometimes filed Tompkins simply under Thomas, because they saw it as one of the many “Thomas” surnames built from nicknames and diminutives.
From the historical record
“TO^ILIXSON. See Thomas. TOMPKINS. See Thomas. TOMPSETT. See Thomas. TOMPSON. See Thomas. T0:MS. See Thomas. TOMSETT. See Thomas. TON. One of the commonest termi- nations of names of places, and by con-”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United KingdomNotable people named Tompkins
- Daniel D. Tompkins (1774–1825)
- Paul F. Tompkins (b. 1968)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.