The Surname Atkinson it's Meaning & Origins.
The adoption of hereditary surnames in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland happened gradually. This took place some seven or eight centuries ago. In Wales this only finally took place as recently as the nineteenth century. The idea may have been instigated by, the Anglo-French nobility, several generations, after the Normon Conquest. By the time of the poll tax in 1377- 81 most ordinary people listed as taxpayers in England had a surname or byname. One possible reason for the adoption of surnames at this time may have been the post-Norman uninventive choice of Christian names. A poll tax of 1379 for part of Yorkshire showed that half of all men were called either John or William (Pomery, 2004).Fixed spelling was not the norm. Spelling varying over time, between generations, between family members and even over the life-time of an individual. Surnames only became fixed in the last two centuries, and firmly so only in the last hundred years.
Surnames may be:
Locative – based on a location e.g. Halifax or Deadman (a contraction of Debenham in Suffolk.
Topographical – that is they may be derived from a feature in the landscape, rather than a specific location e.g., Brook.
Occupational – e.g., Baker.
Patronymic – e.g., Richardson.
Nicknames – e.g., Broadhead.
Pomery (2004) believes that logic would indicate that locative surnames may have a common ancestor. But that topographical surnames probably have origins in different places across the country. One would anticipate that surnames derived from occupations, patronymy and nicknames would have multiple derivations. Whether a surname has single or multiple origins is a question that DNA studies will address.
The following is from Harrison (1912):ATKIN, a double dim. of Adam (with d sharpened to t), q.v.; also of Arthur, q.v.
ATKINS, ATKIN'S (Son) v A t k i nATKINSON, ATKIN'S SON vIt as example of a Patronymic. Adam was a popular christian name in early medieval England. No doubt, therefore, the surname has multiple origins. Patronymy is particularly common in Scandanavian countries as is the use of 'SON' on the end of names. Thus, it is perhaps no surprise that names with 'SON' on the end often have roots attributable to the northern counties of England. Atkinson follows this pattern being particularly prolific in the north and flourishing greatest in Westmoreland.
The Office of National Statistics have a searchable database containing a list of surnames in use in England, Wales and the Isle of Mann in September 2002. http://www.taliesin-arlein.net/names/search.php The list contains almost 270,000 surnames, shared by 54.4 million people. The entire database contains over a million surnames, shared by 55.9 million people, but names shared by fewer that five people have been excluded from this list. The database was established in 1998, and births are continually added, but the 1.5 million deaths between 1998 and 2002 have not been weeded from the system. The database is also said to include a level of duplicate entries and mis-spelt surnames, as well as people currently living abroad and temporary visitors to England and Wales. However, experience suggests that multiplying the result for your surname by 0.93 will give a good idea of the living population for your surname, and multiplying by 3.5 will give the population since the start of parish registers in the 16th century.
I searched the database for Atkinson. The figures are 47,941 people at a ranking of 123. Multiplied by 0.93 = 44585. Multiply this by 3.5 = 156,048. WOW!
I have also looked at the British Census for 1881. Listed are 32,956 Atkinsons.
Looking at place of birth:
Durham: 3,292
Westmoreland: 1,612
Cumberland: 1,690
Yorkshire: 9,725
Lancashire: 4,750
Northumberland: 1,728
= 22,797 or almost 70% of all Atkinsons where born in the northern counties.
