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You could try looking at: http://www.thorpedna.org. According to this site, "the Thorpe surname originated in England almost a thousand years ago and most likely has Norse roots". This site says that Thorpe means "dweller at the hamlet" (http://www.geocities.com/lorrainesolo/thorpe.html). I'm not sure how accurate either of these sites are, but it does seem English or Norse to me. Another site says that Thorpe is and Old Norse name meaning "villager" (http://www.nameseekers.co.uk/surname.htm). The La part looks French to me. Perhaps someone placed La in front of the English surname Thorpe? Placing La before a name is common among African Americans. Perhaps, Thorpe was actually used in France. I don't really know. I did find the last name LaThorpe online but I could not find a meaning. It may be a legitimate French last name or it may have a completely different origin.

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Maybe someone from the surnames message board would know:
http://surnames.behindthename.com/bb/list.php?board=sur

This message was edited 12/10/2005, 10:05 PM