Neilson
A patronymic surname meaning “son of Neil,” ultimately from the old Gaelic personal name Niall.
The #5,319 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 47,115 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Neilson is a patronymic surname built from the personal name Neil plus the English/Scots suffix -son, literally meaning “son of Neil.” The name Neil is commonly linked to Gaelic Niall, a very old personal name whose exact original sense is uncertain, though it has long been associated with Irish and Scottish naming traditions. Some older writers also treated Neilson as a variant of forms like Nielson or Nelson, reflecting the way medieval spelling often shifted between Neil, Neill, Niel, and Nigel.
History
The surname is well established in Scotland and northern England, where patronymic surnames of this type became hereditary in the late medieval period. Historical sources also note the name in Scotland by the 15th century and connect some families to Irish MacNeill/McNeil lines that later adopted or were recorded as Neilson. In English records, spellings could overlap with Nelson, so some older family lines may have been confused or altered in transcription.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname dictionaries sometimes warned that some families recorded as Nelson may actually descend from Neilson, because spelling was fluid and the names could blur in historical records.
From the historical record
“England as Nigellus. NEILSON, Neil's Son: v. Neil. NEISH for Mao Neish, q.v. N ELDER (Eng.) a contr. of Atten-Elder = At THE Elder (-Tree) [E.M.E. at \en eldre: v. Elder'] Cp. Nalder. NELL 1 a var. of Neill, q.v.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)