History of the
Dirickson, Derickson, Derrickson
Name

In the early 1970's, when Roots was popular, I had a school project to trace my family tree. According to my father at that time, our name (Dirickson) started out as "the son of Derrick", a German name. He also told me that our name used to be spelled Derrickson. The most interesting thing he said was, "If you ever meet another Dirickson you are related." I am amazed at the number of researchers who have also been told this! My father's knowledge came from stories passed down from generation to generation. I wish I had kept the tree that I made way back then, as it had some information that I am unable to locate today! Let this be a reminder that one of our greatest resources in genealogy are the old folks. I only wish my dad were still here to tell me the stories again. I'd pay closer attention.

The oldest family member I have traced is Olle DIEDRICKSSON, born about 1639 in either Sweden or Edgemore, New Castle, DE (I have conflicting info). A fellow researcher, Diane, found a hand written family tree at the Delaware Historical Society that starts with Olle and goes through about 5 or 6 generations. (I hope to be able to post these pages to the site.) Olle has one son listed, Zacharias DIDRICKSON (born in 1665 Wilmington, New Castle, DE). Zacharias's children share the same spelling as he, but after that the spelling on the chart changes to DERICKSON. I have limited information on the early families of this line, but later generations are found in Missouri in 1821.

There is also a William DERRICKSON born about 1660 in the DE/MD area. I suspect that William is also a son of Olle's but I have never proved that. Many of the descendants of William stayed in the DE/MD area. The first person that I show, from this line, leaving the area is (4 generations after William), Isaiah DERICKSON, Sr., who went to TN. The spelling of Isaiah's line changes to DERICKSON in the TN/OH/KY area during the early to mid 1800's. Then as the family traveled to IL/MO in the mid to late 1800's it changes to DIRICKSON.

In 1991, my sister traveled to Ireland where she obtained a Coat of Arms for the Dirickson name from The Historical Research Center. It gives the origin to the name dating farther back than my research, and it agrees with what my father had told me. To follow is the transcription:

Family Name History

DIRICKSON

The surname Dirickson is a derivative of the more usual English surname Derrick or Dirrick, itself originally an imported name from the Low Countries. The name is patronymic in origin, being one of those names derived from the first name of a forebearer. In this case, the name simply denotes "the son of Derrick", a shortened form for the personal name Theodoric. It was common in medieval times, prior to the establishment of a formal system of hereditary surnames, to distinguish an individual, if not by his trade or his birth-place, then by the first name of his father, or, as in this particular case, by referring to him as "the son" of his father. The name is ultimately of Old Germanic origin, meaning "people rule", and the form Derrick (Derrick) is derived from the modern German "Dietrich" or the Dutch "Dirk". The first anglicized form was Dederic (or Dederyke), but this or any subsequent forms never became strictly indigenous.

The name was not found in England, it seems, until the late 15th century when it was first recorded in the Close Rolls (3 & 4) during the reign of Edward IV as a personal name as in Dedericus Campe and Dederic Johnson. There seems to be no recorded instances of the present form Dirickson. It is possible that this is an American form of the name adopted when the surname was imported into America at a later stage by English emigrants.

In researching this name it is important to not only look for the correct and obvious spellings of DIRICKSON, DERICKSON, and DERRICKSON, but several mispellings and variations, such as in Olle's name. I have seen on the web some geneaology lines dating back to the 1500 and 1600's with some very weird spellings. Some of these included ship passenger lists (I have not located Olle's ship yet). I will review them again and post at a later date.