Anson

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A proper name borne by people such as the eighteenth-century British admiral George Anson, or given to several towns in the United States
2. A family name, notably that of the naval commander George Anson, and also the name of various small American towns
3. Chiefly a surname of English origin, famously held by the admiral George Anson, and used for several places across North America

Etymology: Anson is a surname that has become a given name, and its shape gives away its making: it is "Ann" with the English patronymic ending "-son" attached, so it means roughly "son of Ann." The first element is itself a diminutive of Anne, a pattern that lets a single name be built from another. Medieval English had a habit of forming family names from a parent's first name plus "-son," as in Johnson or Robson, and Anson followed the same route. Because the name arrived as a surname first, it is most familiar to English readers from people who carried it, rather than from any common vocabulary. Its use as a first name is a later development, which is why its pronunciation and spelling often seem more tied to surnames than to other given names.