A NICHOLAS/NICHOLSON FAMILY CREST

   The name Nicholson means "son of Nicholas" and it is derived from a personal name brought to England by the Normans as early as the conquest. The Domesday Book, a record of the landed class in England taken at the direction of William I, lists it as "Nicholaus" in 1066.  In Latin, the name means "victory people."  Some Normans spelled the name Nigell or Nicholl, while other early documents give the Greek spelling "Nicholas." In the 11th Century, the most common form was "Nicol," and only later did Nicholas become more prominent.  In 1496, a "Nicolson" is recorded in the Letter Books of the City of London.

   The Anglo-Normans held the name Nicholas in very high esteem, perhaps due to their devotion to St. Nicholas, bishop of Myrna in Asia Minor. The Norman font at Winchester Cathedral depicts his life and St. Nicholas became the patron saint of children and the Spirit of Christmas. Five popes took the name Nicholas, making it even more popular as a personal name.  The name became so popular that several variant forms became necessary to distinguish between the many who bore the name.

   One of the stranger origins of the name comes from the inability of the Normans to say "Lincoln."  It is said they could never get closer than "Nincol" or "Nicole."  Contes de Nichole often turned out to be from Lincoln.

   In Scotland, where it is usually found as Nicolson, the name is often an anglicized form of MacNeacail.  Nicholsons were in America as early as 1655, when a Robert Nicholson is listed in Charles City, VA.

NICHOLAS/NICHOLSON CREST

Charlotte Curlee Ramsey
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~cramsey/index.html