The Universe of Discourse

Surnames from nicknames nobody has any more

English has a pattern of common patronymic names. For example, "John Peters" and "John Peterson" are someone whose father was named "Peter". ("Peters" should be understood as "Peter's".) Similarly we have John Williams and John Williamson, John Roberts and John Robertson, John Richards and John Richardson, John James and John Jameson, John Johns and John Johnson, and so on.

Often Dad's name was a nickname. For example, a common nickname for "John" is "Jack" and we have (less commonly) John Jacks and (more commonly) John Jackson. John Bills and John Bilson, John Wills and John Wilson, and John Willis and John Willison are Bill, Will, and Wille, all short for William.

"Richard" is "Dick", and we have John Dicks (or Dix) and John Dickson (or Dixon). "Nicholas" is "Nick" and we have John Nicks (or Nix) and John Nickson (or Nixon).

Sometimes the name has the diminutive suffix “-kin” inserted. Wilkins is little Will's son, as is Wilkinson; Peterkins is little Peter's son.

These patterns are so common that if you find surnames that follow them you can almost always infer a forename, although it may be one that is no longer common, or that is spelled differently. For example, many people are named Pierce, Pearse, Pierson, or Pearson, which is from the name Pierre, Piers or Pierce, still used in English although much less common than in the past. (It is from the same root as Peter.) Perkins is little Pierre. Robin used to be a nickname for Robert (it's “Robkin” with the difficult “-bk-” simplified to just “-b-”) and we have John Robins and John Robinson.

Sometimes, the pattern is there but the name is unclear because it is a nickname that is now so uncommon that it is neatly forgotten. The fathers of John Watts, Watson, and Watkins were called Wat, which used to be short for Walter. John Hobbs, John Hobson, and Hobkins are named for Hob, which was short for Robert in the same way that Rob and Bob are still. (I had a neighbor who was called Hob, and told me his family claimed that it was short for Robert, but that he wasn't sure. I assured him that they were correct.) “Daw”, an archaic nickname for “David”, gives us Dawes, Dawkins, and Dawson.

Back in September when I started this article I thought on John Gibbs and John Gibson. Who's named "Gib", and why? Is it archaic nickname? Yes! It was short for Gilbert. Then I forgot about the draft article until today when I woke up wondering about John Simpson (and, I realize now, John Simms and John Simkins). And it transpired "Sim" or "Simme" was once a common nickname for Simon.

I would welcome further examples.

Addenda

20250210

Vicki Rosenzweig reminds me that another lost nickname for Richard is "Hick" (like "Rick" and "Dick") and from this we get Hicks, Hix, Hickson, Hixon, Hickman, and (she informs me) "Hickmott".

"-mott" perhaps indicates a male in-law, according to the Dictionary of American Family Names via Ancestrry.com. The only other clear example of this that I noticed was "Willmott". Note that Gaelic names like Dermott are not of this type; the resemblance is coincidental.

We get Hodge / Hodges / Hodgson / Hodgkins from "Hodge", an arcahic nickname for Roger.

Lucy Keer suggests that Bateson / Bates is from "Bat", an archair nickname for Bartholomew.

Christopher Taylor reminds me that in Atkins and Atkinson the "At-" is short for "Adam", and similarly in "Addis" and "Addison". I know a guy named Atteson but I'm not sure it is the same thing.

20250210 (again)

Response to this article has been too much for me to keep up with.

Hacker News user tibbar mentions mentions several I either didn't know, or knew and forgot to include:

• "Dob" is another old nickname for "Robert", giving us "Dobson", "Dobbs", "Dobkin", etc.;
• "Dodge" another nickname for Roger, hence Dodgson, as in Louis Carrol's real name, Charles Dodgson;
• "Tibb" is an old nickname for Theobald, giving surnames like "Tibbs" and "Tibbets";
• "Hud" for "Hugh", giving us the Hudsons.

Citizen Claude weighs in

I also asked Claude for suggestions:

I'm going to paste a blog article that discusses common English surnames that are patronymic versions of forenames that no longer exist. For example, the common surname "Watson" is from "Wat", and "Wat" was once a common nickname for "Walter", but no longer used. I would like you to list ten similar examples that are not mentioned in the article.

Claude replied:

Here are ten examples of common English surnames derived from obsolete forenames or nicknames, different from those mentioned in the article:

1. Higgins/Higgs - from "Hick," a medieval pet form of Richard
2. Timms/Timson - from "Tim," originally a medieval nickname for Timothy
3. Hodgson/Hodges - from "Hodge," once a common nickname for Roger
4. Atkins/Atkinson - from "At" or "Atte," medieval diminutive of Adam
5. Parkins/Parkinson - from "Perkin," diminutive of Peter/Pierre
6. Judson/Judd - from "Judd," medieval nickname for Jordan
7. Malkins/Malkinson - from "Malk," diminutive of Malcolm
8. Larkins/Larkin - from "Larry" or "Laurence," medieval form of Lawrence
9. Collins/Colson - from "Col," medieval nickname for Nicholas
10. Huggins/Huggett - from "Hug," medieval pet form of Hugh

Remember that some of these might be made up. For example, Wiktionary claims that #7 is matronymic, from Malle, a nickname for Mary. Who's right? I don't know. The only way to settle this is with a cage match! I hope.

I complained that #2 was not to spec because “Tim” is still common, and demanded a replacement:

1. Rankins/Rankin - from "Ran," a medieval diminutive of Randolph

I also asked Claude if I had made any errors, and it said:

The article claims that "Robin" comes from "Robkin" with "bk" simplified to "b". This is incorrect.

"Robin" is actually a French diminutive of Robert, coming from Old French Robin/Rovin. …

This seems plausible.

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