Nation
A rare surname usually explained as a nickname for someone seen as a foreigner, outsider, or representative of a “nation.”
The #4,940 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 43,333 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Nation is generally taken from the common noun "nation," meaning a people, tribe, or country, ultimately from Latin *natio* “birth, race, nation.” In medieval English and French, the word could also be used in a looser social sense for a group or people from elsewhere, which makes it a plausible source for a nickname. In surname work, such names often began as descriptive labels rather than inherited family names.
History
This is a comparatively uncommon surname in England and the English-speaking world. Because it overlaps with an ordinary vocabulary word, some early records may be hard to separate from incidental uses of "nation" in texts, and the surname’s first appearance is not always easy to pin down from older sources. Modern bearers are most likely descended from one or more unrelated families that independently adopted or inherited the name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same Latin root behind Nation also gave English words like "native" and "natal."
From the historical record
“the loan of his very useful MS. Index of Place-Names occurring in Dr. Birch's 'Gartularium Saxonicum.' This Index, with some re- vision, ought to be printed at the expense of the nation. I only regret that I had not the use of it for the early parts of the First Volume of the Dictionary. It has not been thought…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)