Addison
A patronymic surname meaning “son of Addy,” with Addy being a pet form of Adam.
The #1,986 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 16,993 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Addison is a patronymic surname built from Addy, a familiar short form of Adam, plus -son, meaning “son of.” In the historical sources, Addy is treated as a nursery or pet name for Adam, so Addison originally meant “son of little Adam” or simply “son of Addy.” The name is therefore ultimately from the Hebrew name Adam, filtered through medieval English and Scots nickname forms.
History
The name is well established in northern England and Lowland Scots usage, where nickname-based surnames were especially common. Nineteenth-century surname writers consistently grouped Addison with other Adam-derived forms such as Addy, Adey, and Adamson. It later spread more widely across Britain and then to North America, where it remains in moderate use.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Several 19th-century surname dictionaries explicitly explain Addison as a shortened, familiar form of Adam plus “son,” rather than as a place-name surname.
From the historical record
“tion. (See Alcock, Wilcox, etc.) ADDISON. The same as Adamson, the son of Adam, Adie or Addie being, in the Lowland-Scotch, a familiar corruption of Adam, hence Addie-son. ADEE or ADIE. The same as Adam. (See Addison.) ADKINS. Little Adam, or the son of Adam, from Ad and kins, a diminutive, signifying child, from…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian NamesNotable people named Addison
- Joseph Addison (1672–1719)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.