Wilson is an English, Scottish, and Northern Irish surname, common in the English-speaking world, with several distinct origins. The name is derived from a patronymic form of Will, a popular medieval name. The medieval Will is derived from any of several names containing Old Norse or the first Germanic element wil, meaning "desire".[1] Possibly the most common of these names was William, derived from elements wil and helm, meaning "desire" and "helmet", "protection".[2] The surname Wilson is first recorded in England as Willeson in 1324[3] and in Scotland as Wulson in 1405.[4]

It is the seventh most common surname in England,[5] and tenth most common in the United States,[6] occurring 783,051 times as of 2000.[7] Wilson is also now quite common as a surname in many other countries with a large English-speaking population such as Canada, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand.

Wilson is the third most common surname in Scotland.[8] In the 16th and 17th century the surname was greatly increased in Ulster by the thousands of Scottish settlers and as a result of this settlement it is the most common surname in Northern Ireland.

Wilson can also be a given name.

See also

References

  1. ^ Wilson Family History, Ancestry.com, archived from the original on 30 December 2010, retrieved 16 February 2012. This webpage cited: Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4.
  2. ^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press, p. 276, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1.
  3. ^ Reaney, P. H. (1995-08-10). Wilson, R. M. (ed.). A Dictionary of English Surnames (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 495. ISBN 978-0198631460.
  4. ^ Black, George F. (2015-02-12). Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History. Churchill & Dunn, Ltd. p. 817. ISBN 978-1626540590.
  5. ^ "Wilson Surname at Forebears". Archived from the original on 2015-01-26. Retrieved 2015-01-07.
  6. ^ "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Smith: America's Most Common Surnames". blogs.ancestry.com. Archived from the original on 2014-12-08. Retrieved 2015-01-08.
  7. ^ "Frequently Occurring Surnames from the Census 2000". census.gov. Archived from the original on 2017-07-29. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  8. ^ "100 Most Common Surnames". 2014-09-25. Archived from the original on 2019-04-18. Retrieved 2019-04-18.
Categories