Hutchins
A surname from the pet form of Hugh, meaning “son or descendant of little Hugh.”
The #1,344 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 11,761 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is generally explained as a diminutive or patronymic from the personal name Hugh, with Hutchin as an older pet form and -s marking descent or relationship. In that sense, Hutchins means roughly “Hutchin’s son” or “family of Hutchin,” and ultimately goes back to the Germanic name element found in Hugh. Some 19th-century writers also noted a Gaelic connection for related Scottish forms such as Hutchison, but Hutchins itself is usually treated as an English diminutive of Hugh.
History
Historical surname dictionaries place Hutchins among the many English surnames formed from pet names of Hugh, alongside Huggins and Hutchinson. It is especially associated with northern English usage in older scholarship, though the surname is now found more widely in Britain and the English-speaking world. Some writers in the 19th century suggested that in parts of England the name was sometimes confused with or influenced by other surnames, but the main derivation from Hugh is the standard explanation.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname books grouped Hutchins with a surprisingly large family of names built on Hugh, including Huggins, Higgins, and Hutchinson.
From the historical record
“HUTCHESON-. See Hutchison. HUTCHINS. HUTCHINGS. Northern diminutives of Hugh. HUTCHINSON. See Hutchison. In England and Ireland this is the more fre- quent orthography. In the N. of England the name appears (but erroneously) to be regarded as a corruption of Richardson. Folks of Shields, p. 37. HUTCHISON. Said to…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom