Question

why is it that many people are saying Dawson is English when my family in Scotland originated from the Davidson

Comments

My family have dawson in them they sailed from england in the 1800's to Australia.  Samuel j dawson and his son Joseph dawson or other way around

Answer 1

http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Dawson

http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Davidson

Answer 2

Hello, my husband is a Dawson, and per his DNA tests, and ancestry research going way back...all his Dawson's are English. In fact his DNA is 91% English much to his shock, as some of his family is Irish/Scot and his great grand parents were from the Netherlands. Seems most all Dawson's were English, but some moved to Ireland and Scotland. =)

Answer 3

Are you saying the last name of Davidson? If so Dawson means "son of David" from what all my husband has found in researching.

Comments

The belief that Dawson is derived from Davidson was a supposition put forth by William Camden in the early 1600s, without any documentation to back it up, and it's been repeated ad-nauseam in subsequent works by countless other people, still without evidence, only attributing back to Camden. Do you have specific evidence of a derivation from Davidson? That would be nice to see.

Regardless though, anything you find on those surname sites looking to sell you some kind of scroll or family crest knickknacks should be taken with a grain of salt.

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I'll ask my husband what all he has found out once he feels better. He is a disabled Veteran and having some issues. It's his side of the family and he has researched way back, as his DNA percentages really shocked him. He is former Intelligence so he is a stickler for facts, proof, and so forth, but I will let him know what you have said. Thanks for the heads up on the Knick Knacks, but we just have the stuff that was passed down to us from family. What line of Dawson's do you come from, so I can let him know? My husband is also per DNA, part Jewish, but the rest is 91% English. Wish I knew more. Have a wonderful day. =)

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My Dawsons are Irish, though I haven't actually been able to nail down exactly where from. Family stories say County Cork, old newspapers seem to suggest County Donegal, but I haven't found any concrete documentation to prove much... and hunting down John Dawson, son of John Dawson, son of John Dawson is a pretty frustrating search. :)

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I completely understand. =) He had a hard time with his at first, from what I recall. Ha! I believe he has several William, John and Henry Dawson's from Breeden, Leicestershire, England that he has found, but don't quote me on that. He traced the ones before that to Virginia. He and I both have some Irish we are just having a heck of a time finding it as the records as you know are a pain. My Holahan's have so many of the same names, so it is just a beast to get through. We are both very stubborn, and this means a lot to us, so we keep looking. =)