TATHAM
Tatham is a surname of English origin, principally associated with a place named Tatham in the Lune Valley of Lancashire. The placename appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Tathaim and in the Fines Court Rolls of Lancashire in 1202 as Tateham. Its earliest recorded form is that of William de Tateham in 1208, mentioned in the Pleas before the King in Yorkshire during the reign of King John.
The etymology of the surname is traditionally linked to the Old English elements tata, a personal name, and ham, meaning settlement, farm or homestead. Consequently, the surname can be interpreted as “Tata’s homestead.” Alternate explanations derive the name from the Old English words tād meaning “toad” and ham, giving the meaning “the homestead of the toads.” Other localised interpretations propose the components taet (rags or tattered clothes) or tat (a small parcel of land) combined with ham, yielding meanings such as “homestead where tattered clothes are made” or “homestead on a small parcel of land.”
Historical references include William de Tatham of Lancashire in 1230 and Johannes de Tatam in Yorkshire in 1379. The surname has also evolved into variants such as Tatam, Tatem and Tatum. In addition, alternative spellings and related surnames appear in various forms—Thatham, Thatam, Thotton, Thotan, among others—though these remain distinct lineages derived from similar Old English roots.
Geographically, the surname is most concentrated within the United Kingdom, especially in Yorkshire and Lancashire, but it is also found in neighbouring counties such as Norfolk, Wiltshire, Kent, Essex, Derbyshire, and in Scotland and Wales. Internationally, it appears in Australia, the United States and Canada, with notable concentrations in Michigan where it represented a small but significant portion of the population in the 2010 Census. In the United States, the surname is considered uncommon, with fewer than five thousand bearers recorded in recent censuses.
Despite its relative rarity, the surname Tatham has endured from the Middle Ages to the present day, reflecting a sustained legacy of English settlement and the continued identification of individuals with their place of origin. Its persistence illustrates the cultural and historical significance of locational surnames within British society.
Typical given names associated with the Tatham surname
Male
- Alan
- Andrew
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
- William
Female
- Anne
- Barbara
- Deborah
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Jennifer
- Joan
- Joanne
- Laura
- Nicola
- Patricia
- Sarah
- Susan
- Yvonne
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Tatham in...
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There are approximately 1,230 people named Tatham in the UK. That makes it roughly the 6,302nd most common surname in Britain. Around 19 in a million people in Britain are named Tatham.
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 Tatham
- Simon Tatham - Programmer
- Digby Tatham-Warter - (1917 to 1993)
- David Tatham - Diplomat, governor and biographer
- Agnes Clara Tatham - Painter (1893 to 1972)
- Nick Tatham - Singer
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.