Clarkson
A patronymic surname meaning “son of the clerk” or “son of the clergyman.”
The #3,953 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 34,290 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Clarkson is an English surname built from clerk, in its older sense of “cleric” or “churchman,” plus the surname suffix -son. In Middle English, a clerk was often a literate man in holy orders, so the name originally meant “the clerk’s son” or “the clergyman’s son.” Some older sources gloss it simply as “son of a clerk.”
History
The name is especially associated with Yorkshire and the north of England, where this kind of occupational patronymic was common. It later spread more widely across England and into North America. Early surname writers also note Clarkson alongside other northern -son names such as Wrightson and Smithson.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname books often list Clarkson as one of the classic northern English -son names formed from an occupation rather than a personal first name.
From the historical record
“tenants are designated Clericus. CLARKSON. The son of a clerk. CLARY. Possibly from Clcri, near Alen9on in Normandy. CLAVERtKG. The family spring from Eustace, a noble Norman, who had two sons ; Scrlo de Burgo, who built Knaresbo- rough castle, and John the One-eyed, (l\lo- noculus). The latter had a son Pagan…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom