Definition:
There are two possible origins of the surname Callison. Firstly, this surname may be of local origin, being derived from the place where a man once lived or where he once held land. In this case the surname comes from the town of Calais in Northern France and means simply "son of the one from Calais". This would mean that the surname is a variant of Callis or Calliss, of which early records date back in the Norman Conquest when the surname first arrived in England. One William de Caleio is noted in the "Inquisitia Eliensis" of 1086, while in 1190 in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucetsershire we find the name of one Richard de Caliz.
Secondly, this surname may be of matronomyc origin, belonging to that group of surnames derived from the forenames or Christian name of a mother. In this case the surname evolved in the Borderlands of Scotland from whence it spread to the north of England, and it is a shortened form of the name MacAllison, just as Callister comes from MacAllister and Calpin from MacAlpin. In this case the surname means "son of Allison", Allison or Alisan being a popular Border form of the forename Alice. This surname probably entered England in the sixteenth century, although forms of the name are recoreded in Scotland some three centuries prior to this.
It is not impossible that both of these routes to the name Callison are true, although as most of the Callisons found come from Scotland and the North of England then the latter explanation seems more likely.