Anderson (surname)

Anderson
Family name
Meaning "Anders' son"
Related names Andersson
Andersen

Anderson, Andersson or Andersen is a surname deriving from a patronymic meaning "son of Anders/Andrew" (itself derived from the Greek name "Andreas", meaning "man" or "manly"). It has originated in parallel in Scotland and the Nordic countries.

In Scotland, the name first appeared in records of the 14th century as "Fitz Andreu" (meaning son of Andrew), and developed in various forms by the Scottish Gaelic patronymic of "MacGhilleAndrais" which means the servant of St. Andrew. Variations of this name were MacAndrew, Gillanders and Anderson. The name soon migrated to other parts of Scotland due to the popularity of the name "Andrew" as associated with the Patron Saint of Scotland and the largest grouping lies in the north-east of Scotland from the Mearns through Aberdeenshire, Banff and Moray. Similarly it is also to be found in early English records. Anderson is the ninth most frequent name in Scotland and 43rd-most common surname in the United Kingdom.[1]

In Sweden, the form Andersson (and also Anderson) is the second-most common name[2].

In Norway and Denmark, the form Andersen is quite common, being the fifth most common surname in both countries[3][4] - see Andersen.

The Scandinavian forms Andersson and Andersen were often rendered as Anderson by immigrants to the English-speaking countries, whereby the latter form became one of the most common American surnames. The name was eleventh most common surname reported in the 1990 United States census, accounting for 0.3% of the population.[5] It is the twelfth most common surname reported in the 2000 United States Census.[6] Anderson is also one of the most common surnames in Canada[7].

Other spelling variations include: Andison, Andersonne, Andersoun, Andirsoone, Andresoun, Androson, Andirston, Andresson, Andrewson, and Andresen.

Notable persons with the surname Anderson include:

Contents

United Kingdom

United States

Footballers

Other

Andersson

Fictional

See also

References

  1. ^ British surnames
  2. ^ Efternamn - Statistics Sweden
  3. ^ Statistics Norway
  4. ^ [1] Statistics Denmark
  5. ^ United States Census Bureau (9 May 1995). s:1990 Census Name Files dist.all.last (1-100). Retrieved on 2008-07-04.
  6. ^ Genealogy
  7. ^ CBC News In Depth: Common surnames