Calhoun
A Scottish surname from Colquhoun, ultimately tied to a place-name meaning “hazel-tree dwelling.”
The #803 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 7,150 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Calhoun is generally treated as a reduced or anglicized form of Colquhoun, a Scottish territorial surname. The older sources connect Colquhoun with a place-name interpreted as meaning something like “hazel-tree dwelling” or “hazel wood homestead.” The spelling has been simplified over time, with the initial element and the internal cluster reshaped into the shorter modern form.
History
The name is strongly associated with the Scottish Colquhoun family and the lands of Colquhoun in Dunbartonshire. Historical spellings vary widely, and Calhoun became a common Anglicized rendering in Scotland, Ireland, and later North America. In the United States it is especially familiar through the better-known spelling Calhoun.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname dictionaries often treated Calhoun as just another spelling of the same Scottish name family as Colquhoun and Cahoon.
From the historical record
“shire. CALHOUN. A contraction of Colqn- houn. CALISHER. A correspondent suggests 'Calaiser,' a man of Calais. CALL. I. Probably IMacall, by the sup- pression of the first two letters. See Art. Mac. 2. A-Sax. call((, the same as carl or ceorl, a man. Ferguson. Calle. H.R. CALLAGHAN. CALLAHAN. The”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom