Latham (pronounced 'lay-thm') is a surname name is of Old Scandinavian origin which derives from any one of the following places: Latham, in West Yorkshire; Lathom, in Lancashire; and Laytham in East Yorkshire. All of these share the same meaning and derivation, which is "(place of or by) the barns", derived from the Old Norse "hlatha", barn. Lathom in Lancashire is recorded as "Latune" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and in the 1201 Pipe Rolls of the county as "Lathum". "Laytham" in East Yorkshire appears as "Ladone" in the Domesday Book. Locational surnames were usually acquired by those former inhabitants of a place who moved to another area, and were thereafter best identified by the name of their birthplace. The modern surname can be found as Latham, Lathom, Laytham, Leatham, Lathem, Latam, and Leedham . The marriage of John Leatham and Kathleen Lee was recorded in Carlton near Snaith in Yorkshire on 28 January 1626. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert de Latham (witness), which was dated 1204, in the "Yorkshire Assize Court Rolls", during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216.
Notable people with the surname include:
Aaron Latham, American journalist
Arlie Latham, American baseball player
Arthur Latham, Former Labour MP (Westminster) and Councillor
Cassandra Latham, British witch
Charles Latham, Australian politician
Charles Latham, 1st Baron Latham, British politician
Charles Latham MRCS LSA (1816–1907) English physician and surgeon from Sandbach.
Chris Latham (baseball player)
Chris Latham (rugby player), Australian rugby union player
Christine Latham, Canadian soccer player
Sir David Latham, British judge
Earle O. Latham, First Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and U.S. State Department special emissary to Ethiopia to establish the National Bank of Ethiopia
George Latham (architect), (d. 1871), British architect
George William Latham (1827 – 1886), English landowner, barrister and a Liberal politician.
Helen Latham, British actress
Hubert Latham, (1883-1912), pioneer aviator of the pre World War One era
James Latham (criminal) (died 1965), American serial killer
James Latham (painter), (c.1696–1747), Irish painter
Jean Lee Latham,(1902–1995), American writer.
Jody Latham, British actor
John Latham (1761–1843) English physician, President of the Royal College of Physicians
John Latham (1787–1853), English poet
John Latham (jurist), former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia
John Latham (ornithologist), British ornithologist
John Latham (artist) (1921–2006)
Larry Latham, American wrestler
Laurie Latham, record producer
Lonnie Latham, American Baptist pastor
Mark Latham (1961), Australian politician (Labour), Opposition Leader 2003-05
Michael Latham, former British politician
Mike Latham, former English cricketer
Milton Latham, former US Senator and Governor of California
Peter Latham (tennis), British racquets and real tennis player
Philip Latham, British actor
Philip Latham, pen name of Robert S. Richardson (1902–1981), American astronomer
Richard Latham (1908–1953), Brazilian cricketer
Robert Gordon Latham, British ethnologist
Robert Latham (editor) (died 1995), co-editor of the diary of Samuel Pepys
Rod Latham (born 1961), New Zealand cricketer
Thomas Latham (cricketer) (1847–1926), English barrister and cricketer
Tom Latham, Republican member of the US House of Representatives
Vida Latham (1866–1958), British-American physician
William P. Latham, American composer
Woodville Latham, American inventor
