Dawson

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A historic town in northwestern Canada's Yukon territory that boomed during the Klondike gold rush ; a family name of English or Scottish origin carried by many people
2. A small Yukon settlement founded in the late 1890s gold rush era ; a surname passed down through many families of British descent
3. An old mining town in the Canadian far north built up by prospectors in the 1890s ; a hereditary last name found among English and Scottish families

Etymology: Dawson is a surname meaning "son of Daw," and Daw was a Middle English pet form of David. Medieval English families often named children after biblical and saintly figures, and affectionate short forms like Daw, Hob, or Dick were common nicknames for names such as David, Robert, and Richard. Adding the Old English-derived suffix "-son," meaning "son of," turned the nickname into a patronymic, so that a man called Daw's son became known as Dawson. Because the name was built this way, it spread across England and Scotland as a hereditary family name, and it is one of many English surnames that began as a diminutive of a common Christian name. The same pattern produced names such as Davidson and Dawes, which show how a single pet form could branch into several surnames.