Ian, Thank you for an excellant, well-thought out responnse that separates reality from wishful thinking. I could only hope that, when I finally am able to get my Thompson line (John, who married Elizabeth Ward in Anne Arundel County, Maryland in 1726) back across the water, we might cross paths again. Jay Thompson ----- Original Message ---- From: I Thompson <joscyn@hotmail.com> To: thompson@rootsweb.com Sent: Saturday, May 3, 2008 6:51:31 AM Subject: Re: [THOMPSON] THOMPSON Digest, Vol 3, Issue 127 It isn't very logical to ask the ethnic origins of a surname. Of a family, yes, but of a surname no. The two are entirely different. Especially in the USA, where some surnames have been anglicised (or changed) on arrival, I don't think it can be the case that, on setting out, anyone can assume that "their" Thompsons are from the United Kingdom. Furthermore, many Black-American families owe their names to former slave-owning families (don't try to suggest that the McAllisters were originally Scottish or the Joneses originally Welsh in that instance). If you search for the meaning of Thompson/Thomson/Thomason (and other variants) you will find they all mean the same thing - son of Thomas - this is an example of a patronymic (other examples being the most common surnames in the English-speaking world). As spelling wasn't fixed until relatively recently in the history of UK surnames, it is more than possible that within the same family, going back far enough, there are variations in the spelling. Furthermore, illiteracy rates were high formerly, so, if a family could only pronounce their name, it was up to someone else to decide on the spelling as it was heard. If we imagine (as an exercise only because this certainly wasn't the case) that all surnames were fixed in the UK on Jan 1st 1500, then you can see that all the different Thomases around with all their different families would all chose to call their children Thompson/Thomson/Thomason. So, not all Thompsons/Thomsons/Thomasons are related. You should find some useful general works on the origins of surnames in your local library or on Google Books. I hope that's helpful? Ian Kent UK > From: thompson-request@rootsweb.com> Subject: THOMPSON Digest, Vol 3, Issue 127> To: thompson@rootsweb.com> Date: Fri, 2 May 2008 18:30:26 -0600> > > > Hi Thompson List,> > Can you tell me the ethnic origin of "Thompson"? > > Donna > California> > > > Donna Lingren _________________________________________________________________ Win Indiana Jones prizes with Live Search http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/msnnkmgl0010000002ukm/direct/01/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to THOMPSON-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message