Latham

Meaning & origin

Latham is a rarity among given names, used so infrequently that it feels more like a distinctive surname than a common first name. It first appeared in U.S. birth records in 1917, and its popularity peaked in 2015, though even then it was far from common. Since 2014 the name has been falling in use, and by 2025 it ranked 6,446th, occurring at a rate of only 1 in 131,390 births. The name has never broken into any state's top ranks and has no recorded use for girls. Its origins lie in the British surname tradition, derived from places named Latham in northern England, which themselves come from the Old Norse word for a barn or granary. For parents drawn to underused, surname-style names with a straightforward pronunciation, Latham offers a clean, no-nonsense option that avoids trendy suffixes while still feeling modern.

Latham is an English surname that originated as a habitational name from any of the places named Latham in Lancashire and Yorkshire. These place names derive from the Old Norse word 'hlatha', meaning 'barn' or 'granary'. The surname has been in use since medieval times. As a given name, Latham emerged in the late 19th or early 20th century, following the fashion of using surnames as first names.