Hobson
Usually a patronymic surname meaning “son of Hob,” with Hob itself a medieval pet form of Robert or a related old personal name.
The #2,128 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 18,116 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Hobson is generally explained as a patronymic from Hob, a medieval pet form of Robert. In that common reading, the name means “son of Hob,” with Hob also appearing in related surnames such as Hobbs and Hopkins. Some early writers also allowed that Hob may in some cases continue an older personal name, possibly Ob or a similar Saxon form, rather than simply Robert.
History
The surname is well attested in medieval England, including Domesday-era forms such as Hobbesune or Obbesune recorded in Suffolk. Later scholarship treated it mainly as one of the many surnames built from short medieval nicknames, especially in northern and midland England. In modern English, the name also became famous through the proverb "Hobson's choice," referring to a choice where only one option is really offered.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The best-known cultural phrase connected with the name is "Hobson's choice," which entered English from the name of a Cambridge stable owner, Thomas Hobson.
From the historical record
“HOBINIAN. In some local dialects this word signifies a clown, a rustic. HOBSON. Hob is a known diminutive HOD of Robert, and in some cases this surname is probably from that source ; but it would seem that there was anciently some baptis- mal name like Ob, or Hob, as we find in the Doniesd. of Suffolk one Leuric…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom