Garrison
Likely a surname built from a place-name, later also associated by some writers with a military garrison.
The #677 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 6,091 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The strongest old dictionary explanation treats Garrison as a corruption of Garriston, a place-name in Yorkshire. That makes it a locational surname: someone originally identified by a connection with that township. Another 19th-century writer also linked it with the common word "garrison," but that looks more like a later folk explanation than the primary surname origin.
History
In English records, locational surnames often arose when people moved away from their home village and were identified by where they had come from. The Yorkshire place-name explanation is the one repeated by the older surname dictionaries consulted here. The spelling has also been influenced over time by the familiar military word, which may have helped the modern form feel natural.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because the ordinary word "garrison" is so recognizable, this surname has often invited a military-style explanation even when the older place-name derivation is the likelier one.
From the historical record
“tion, GARRISON. A corruption of Garriston, a township of Yorkshire. GARROD. GARROOD. See Garrett. GARROW. Probably local ; but Arthur derives it from the British garo, fierce, keen, rough. GARSTANG. A town in Lancashire. GARSTIN. The O. Norse personal”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United KingdomNotable people named Garrison
- William Lloyd Garrison (1805–1879)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.