Wilkinson

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An English family name of patronymic origin, meaning son of Will or William ; a trademark for a line of razors and blades made by a British company
2. A surname of English origin derived from a given name like William ; a commercial brand name used for shaving razors and blade products
3. A common English surname formed from a personal name such as Will ; a well-known manufacturer's brand of shaving blades and razors

Etymology: Wilkinson is a patronymic surname, meaning "son of Wilkin." Wilkin is a diminutive of the personal name Will (itself short for William), with the diminutive ending "-kin" that also appears in names like Hodgkin and Perkin. The "-son" ending is the old Germanic word for son, which English inherited from Old English "sunu," the same root that gives German "Sohn" and Old Norse "sonr." Middle English "-son" was attached to personal names to show whose child a man was, so that "Wilkinson" was simply "the son of little Will." The surname is a clear example of how English family names were formed: a father's given name, plus a suffix showing descent. Thousands of similar names, such as Jackson, Robinson and Thompson, follow the same pattern, with "-son" standing in for "son of" across the whole group.