Hutchison

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A family name of Scottish or English origin borne by many people across the English-speaking world
2. A surname traditionally associated with families of Scottish and English descent, carried by people in many countries
3. The family name of Scottish or English origin, shared by numerous individuals and several notable figures

Etymology: Hutchison is a patronymic surname: it means "son of Hutch," and Hutch was a medieval pet form of the given name Hugh. Medieval English speakers often shortened and affectionately altered personal names by adding diminutive endings, and "Hutch" was one such familiar form, ultimately built on the same name that gives us Hugh. Adding the Old English-derived suffix "-son" to a personal name marked the bearer as that person's child, so the surname as a whole simply records a family descended from someone called Hutch. The "-son" ending followed the same pattern as surnames like Johnson, Jackson and Robertson, where a father's given name became the family name. Because the base was a nickname rather than the formal name Hugh, the surname preserves a more informal, everyday form of a common medieval first name.