Dickerson
A surname that usually means “son of Dick,” with Dick being a medieval pet form of Richard.
The #659 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 5,950 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Dickerson is generally understood as a patronymic surname built from Dick, a common medieval pet form of the personal name Richard, plus -son, meaning “son of.” Some older writers also explain it as a later reshaping of Dickinson, where the middle consonants were simplified in popular speech. The core sense is therefore “son of Dick/Richard.”
History
The name is recorded in England by the later Middle Ages and appears in early surname lists in forms such as Dickerson and Dikerson. Nineteenth-century surname writers treated it as a variant of Dickinson, and that remains the usual explanation. It later became established in the English-speaking world, especially in Britain and North America.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same root underlies a whole family of surnames, including Dickson, Dickinson, Dixon, and Dickerson.
From the historical record
“3ir for in or en. This was a very natural corruption ; cf. Patterson for Pattinson (Patrick), Catterson for Cattinson (Catherine), Steverson for Stevenson (Stephen), Dickerson for Dickinson (Richard), Matterson for Mattinsoo (Martha or Matthew), Batterson for Battinson (Bartholomew), all from the nicks of Patrick…”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances