LATHAM
Latham is a surname of English origin that incorporates elements of Old Norse language and tradition. It can be classified as both a locational and occupational name within the historic context of the British Isles.
The etymology of Latham derives from the Old Norse personal name Lathum or Latham, signifying a barn or a barnyard. Alternately, the name may have arisen from several English settlements that bear the same root: Latham in West Yorkshire, Lathom in Lancashire, and Laytham in East Yorkshire. All these place‑names are constructed from the Old Norse words hlathr meaning barn and ham meaning a homestead or enclosure, thus the literal sense of the surname is “place by the barns.”
The place name Lathom is recorded as Latune in the Domesday Book of 1086 and appears as Lathum in the 1201 Pipe Rolls. The East Yorkshire locality of Laytham is noted as Ladone in the same historic survey. Such early records illustrate that residents who moved away from these villages were identified by the name of their former home, resulting in the adoption of locational surnames such as Latham, Lathom, Laytham, Leatham and Lathem.
The earliest definitive spelling of the family name was found in the Yorkshire Assize Court Rolls of 1204, when a witness named Robert de Latham was recorded. This document, produced during the reign of King John, provides the earliest legal acknowledgment of the surname. Subsequent documentation, such as the 1626 marriage record of John Leatham and Kathleen Lee in Carlton near Snaith, confirms the name’s continued presence in northern England through the early modern period.
Overall, the surname Latham reflects a heritage that intertwines Scandinavian linguistic influence with English place‑based identity, embodying the historical patterns of settlement, occupation and migration within the British Isles.
Typical given names associated with the Latham surname
Male
- Andrew
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Robert
Female
- Christine
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Helen
- Joanne
- Karen
- Margaret
- Mary
- Nicola
- Patricia
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
- Leatham
- Laytham
- Leetham
- Lathom
- Leedham
- Lathan
- Latam
- Lethem
- Laitham
- Lathams
- Latha
- Altham
- Ladham
- Lath
- Lathaen
- Lathall
- Lathane
- Lathanie
- Lathar
- Lathem
- Lathiam
- Lathram
- Lathum
- Laudham
- Lawdham
- Lawthom
- Laythan
- Laythem
- Leathan
- Leatheam
- Leathem
- Leitham
- Letham
- Lethan
- Lettham
- Leytham
- Litham
- Lotham
- Lotheim
- Loutham
- Lutham
- Lytham
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Latham in...
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There are approximately 12,320 people named Latham in the UK. That makes it the 732nd most common surname in Britain. Around 189 in a million people in Britain are named Latham.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Latham
- Jody Latham - Actor
- Pauline Latham - Politician
- Joanne Latham - Model
- Philip Latham - Actor
- Stuart Latham - Actor and later television producer (1912 to 1993)
- Helen Latham - Actress
- Arthur Latham - Politician (1930 to 2016)
- Christopher Latham - Cyclist
- John Latham - Physician, naturalist and author (1740 to 1837)
- Paul Latham - Politician (1905 to 1955)
- Mike Latham - Cricketer
- Robert Latham - Academic (1912 to 1995)
- Patrick Latham - Cricketer
- Frances Latham - Ancestor of many Rhode Island governors and deputy governors (1609 to 1677)
- Arthur Latham - Football player (1863 to 1)
- Agnes Latham - Literature academic and writer (1905 to 1996)
- Harry Latham - Football player (1921 to 1983)
- David Latham - Judge
- John Cridland Latham - United States Army Medal of Honor recipient (1888 to 1975)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.