Davison
A patronymic surname meaning “son of David.”
The #1,617 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 13,860 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Davison is an English patronymic surname built from the medieval given name David plus the suffix -son, literally meaning “son of David.” The personal name David comes from Hebrew, often understood as meaning “beloved.” Historical surname dictionaries also note that Davison is part of the same broad family as Davis, Davies, Davidson, and related forms.
History
The name appears in English records in several spelling forms, and 19th-century surname writers consistently treated it as a derivative of David. It is well established in Britain and later appears in Ireland as well, with Matheson recording it in Irish counties such as Dublin and Antrim. The surname is part of a large set of David-based surnames that spread widely across the English-speaking world.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some early surname writers explicitly compared Davison with Dawson and other names ending in -son, treating them as straightforward patronymics.
From the historical record
“David. DAVISON. See David. DAWBEIl. The medieval name of a plasterer. Le Daubere. H.R. DAWE. DAWES. DAWS. See David. In some cases the derivation may be from the O.-Fr. aive, which Roquefort defines as a water, river, fountain, or pond ; and this notion is supported by the former mode of writing the name— D'Awes…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United KingdomNotable people named Davison
- Chris de Burgh (b. 1948)
- Emily Davison (1867–1913)
- Bruce Davison (b. 1946)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.