Watterson
A surname meaning “Walter’s son,” with Watterson as a variant spelling of Waterson.
The #8,873 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 83,671 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Watterson is best explained as a patronymic surname built on the personal name Walter, with the ending meaning “son of.” The form appears as a variant of Waterson and can be analyzed as Walter + son, sometimes via short forms like Wattie or Watt. In older records, surname spelling was fluid, so Watterson, Waterson, and related forms could all refer to the same family line.
History
The name is recorded in medieval and later English documents, including Yorkshire examples, and it appears in several northern and Irish registers. Some Manx scholarship also treats Watterson as an English rendering or translation of MacWalter, though that explanation is not universally certain. The surname remains relatively uncommon in the United States today.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Manx writers noted that some families may have adopted Watterson as an English equivalent of MacWalter, showing how surnames could shift across languages and communities.
From the historical record
“q.v. WATTERSON, like Waterson, a forin of Walterson, q.v. WATTIE =Watt (q.v.) -|- the E. dim. suff. -U. WATTIS=Wattie's (Son) : v. Wattie. WATTLEWORTH, aa assim. form of Ward le- worth, q.v. WATTON (Eng.), Bel. to Watton (Yorks: Domesday Wattune; Herts: Domesday'.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)