David Hey (1987) in his book "Family history and local history in England", quoted McKinley who stated that no evidence has been found of true hereditary surnames in England before 1066. The beginnings of family names should therefore be sought instead in the period immediately after the Norman conquest (of England).

Colin Rogers in his book "The Surname Detective" classifies surnames based on a man's Christian name as patronymic. Perhaps if we look at the name "Dickson" it can be broken down into two components "Dick" and "son", that logically can be re-formed as Dick's son or son of Dick. If this is indeed the origin of the name one should then look at the origin of the name "Dick".

The Collins English Dictionary gives two useful entries for the name Dick. In the sixteenth century the word meaning was "fellow"; and further explains the name Dick is the familiar form of "Richard", applied generally to any fellow or lad etc.

Basil Cottle in the "Penguin Dictionary of Surnames", explains that Dick is the diminutive form for Richard, and that Dickson is the "son of Dick".

Another derivative of Dick, that of "Dix", may have originated in the English County of Norfolk, and from this the surname "Dixson" was derived, with "s" being dropped overtime to form "Dixon".

Reaney and Wilson in their work "Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames", go on to provide some additional historical context, grouping Dickson, Dixon, and Dixson as follows: Thom Dicson 1307 of Black Castle Douglas, John Diksson, Dikson 1332, Nicholas Dyxon 1425, and Robert Dixson all being variations of "Dick's son".

Dickenson, Dickinson, Dickerson, Dickeson, Dickison and Dickason are also grouped as an entry, with historical references to William Dykounson 1366, Henry Dicason 1518, Gilbert Dyckenson 1585, Nicholas Dikersone 1598, John & Henry Dicounesson de Clenesse were sons of Richard, son of Henry de Clesnesse 1359.

The above would appear to provide the much needed confirmation that "Dickson" in it's various forms started to appear around the 14th century in Scotland & England. We can also see that even in the 14th century there were many variations in spelling that eventually evolved into the popular formats we know today. Considering the above my own belief is that the origin of the name Dickson is so complex that it is most improbable that all who share the Dickson surname are in the some way related. So if this is true, and within your family history research you are attempting to trace genetic descent of your line, how or what is the best way for you to proceed?

I believe that it is fairly safe to assume that the surname Dickson originated in the British Isles. I have on a personally traveled extensively around the world, and I have only discovered the surname Dickson in those countries that have immigrants from the British Isles. The Dickson name is seen extensively throughout England, Scotland & Ireland (but not in Wales) and so if we are to trace the origin of the name one must eventually returned to either England, Ireland, or Scotland in our research.

The name Dickson is more common in Scotland and in the North of England, however if we look at Ireland we also see the Dickson personal names alongside Irish clan names. This most probably was as a result of English and Scottish settlers moving in to Ireland, as the English and Scots influence began to extend itself over other parts of the British Isles.

If we look to the history of the British Isles and Ireland in particular, we see that in the reign of James 1 after 1603, there was a plan to establish and maintain English authority over the whole country. One of the methods adopted was to encourage English settlers to migrate to Ireland, and in the 16th and 17th century this process, known as the plantations, was vigorously implemented. Thus the creation of the Irish counties, Kings County and Queens County, were planted with English settlers. Today Kings County is known as Offaly and Queens County is known as Laois (Leix).

Perhaps the most significant plantation was the Ulster plantation initiated in 1609 by James 1, when both Scots from the low lands and English were encouraged to settle in Ulster. The Scottish settlers were particularly numerous in North Down and South Antrim (the area around Belfast). Later English settlers arrived in Leinster & Munster following the invasion of Ireland by Cromwell in the 1650s.

The plantations coincided with the first English settlements in North America. The activities of the British Army in supporting these settlements underpinned the emigration of soldiers that had completed their term of service and were given the option of settling into the country in which the regiment was serving. (For an example of how the British regiment would travel the then world see the pages on the Leinster Regiment).

So now we can see there was initial emigration from Scotland and England to Ireland, and ultimately emigration from England, Scotland and Ireland to New World destinations such as the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Thus we return to the British Isles to seek the origin of the surname Dickson. We have already indicated, the Dickson surname is patronymic, so it is more sensible, perhaps, to dwell upon the popularity of the name within particular regions of the British Isles. By adopting this method, the family historian seeking to determine the origins of their family, will at the very least, have a better indication of the geographical areas of the British Isles in which to pursue their search. You should however keep in mind, as a researcher, that families moved frequently resulting in considerable migration of the population. Social mobility, both upwards and downwards, being apparent from the 16th century onwards.

Again in continuing the focus on Northern England, a study made by Doctor George Redmans (1973), Yorkshire: the West Riding, showed that many of the land-owning families in the County were using hereditary surnames from the mid 12th century. These names were very often taken from a place where the family resided and held land. Most original Yorkshire names have a single-family origin; many of them had begun to spread by the 16th century and patronymic surnames were not that common in Yorkshire. David Hey does however in his work Family History and Local History in England, indicate that that in 19th century Yorkshire the form Dixon was in common use. Hey cites a particular case of 19th century Dixon's and goes on to give examples of how the surname Dixon moved, through marriage, from being a surname to a forename. So now we have an indication that the surname Dixon has good solid origins in Yorkshire.

When I started this chapter I mentioned that the surname Dickson was a very common name in Scotland, thus it is perhaps not unreasonable to draw a conclusion that if you are a Dickson, then ultimately your origins are most probably derived from Scotland.

To conclude, the geographical distribution of the Dickson surname is indeed very wide, with many examples being found in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada, in addition to England, Ireland and Scotland. The distribution of our surname is driven by patterns of mobility which, in turn, have been driven by the needs of our ancestors to improve their economic or social position; or perhaps, they just wanted to go and live in the sun away from the changeable (but mainly damp) weather of the British Isles!

Mobility has had a profound impact upon the distribution of the family name Dickson. However if we accept the premise that the origins of the name rests in the British Isles, in tracing your ancestors, dictionaries of surnames may prove to be of little use. Geographical mapping would be of more use, and in this aspect, there are two definitive sources which can be examined for the 19th and the 20th century. As of June 1999 the availability of the 1881 census has become a reality. Thus it should be possible for 1881 to map the geographical distribution of the Dickson surname.

Access to census data after 1891 it is not feasible in the United Kingdom until mid 2001; for the 20th century distribution of the surname Dickson within the British Isles, one can search the British Isles telephone index (keeping in mind that not all inhabitants have domiciles with a telephone). Alternatively one can make use of the various commercial surname listings that have been drawn from electoral rolls. These books are available from organisations such as Family Heritage International, and Holberts Family Heritage.

Colin Rogers however provides a wonderful question that overrides many of these questions.

"How far has the numerical or geographical history of our surname been determined by the number of sons who survived to marry and generate more? ... Are even major differences in the number of instances, or in regional distributions, merely the result of the vagaries of the "Y" chromosome, so that they now have little relationship to the origin of the name? ....

William Shakespeare is accredited with the phrase What's in a Surname? The answer to that is one that we all know only too well, for when considering the origins of a surname the answer is "A great deal of hard work!

Finally as at one time the popular expression was "Go West Young Man!", if you are searching for the origins of your family name Dickson, at some point in time you will undoubtedly return to Scotland, and on the way most probably take in Northern England & Ireland.