Timms
A patronymic surname meaning “son of Tim,” with Tim shortened from Timothy.
The #7,625 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 70,927 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Timms is an English surname formed from the short pet form Tim, itself a shortened form of Timothy. The name therefore originally meant “Tim’s son” or, more broadly, “descendant of Tim.” Timothy comes from Greek elements meaning “honouring God” or “honoured by God.”
History
19th-century surname dictionaries consistently treat Timms as a derivative of Timothy, alongside forms such as Tims, Timson, and Timbs. It appears chiefly in England and is especially associated in one source with Yorkshire spellings, though the surname is not limited to that region. Variant spellings were common because surnames were often recorded by ear before spelling stabilized.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some older surname books also note that the spelling Times can sometimes be a variant of Timms, not just the plural word 'times.'
From the historical record
“TIMMONS, Timmon's (Son). TIMMS, Timm's (Son) : v. Tim(m, Timothy. TIMOTHY (A.-Gr.) Honoured of God [Gr. tt/iieeos (Lat. Tinietheus),f.nfidu, I honour, revere -|- Beds, God : cp. the reverse for- mation Qe6-Ti.fi.os, honoured of God] TIMPANY (Celt.) Harper, Minstrel [Ir. tiompdnach, f. E.Ir. tiompan, ' a small…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)