Thorndike

English

Alternative forms

• (surname): Thorndyke

Etymology

Topographic surname for someone who lived by a sort of palisade made with thornbushes, from Old English þorn (“thornbush”) + dīc (“ditch; dike”).

The town was named after Israel Thorndike, a landowner.

Proper noun

Thorndike (countable and uncountable, plural Thorndikes)

1. A surname from Old English.
2. A town in Waldo County, Maine, United States.

Derived terms

• Thorndikean

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Thorndike is the 39555^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 556 individuals. Thorndike is most common among White (92.81%) individuals.

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Thorndike”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 3, New York City: Oxford University Press, →ISBN.