Nixon
Originally meaning “Nicholas’s son,” Nixon is a patronymic surname built from the pet form Nick.
The #907 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 8,094 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Nixon is a patronymic surname formed from the nickname Nick, itself a short form of Nicholas, plus a son-ending. In other words, it originally meant “son of Nick” or “son of Nicholas.” The deeper root of Nicholas is the Greek name Nikolaos, “victory of the people.”
History
Historical records show the name in England by the 14th century, and the form was well established in northern English records by the late medieval period. Like Dixon or Hixon, it belongs to a large family of surnames built from familiar first-name short forms. It later spread widely in Britain and then to North America and other English-speaking regions.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some 19th-century surname writers treated Nixon and Nix as parallel forms in the same Nicholas-based family.
From the historical record
“E. dim. 'suff. -ey. NIXON, Nick's Son: v. Nick, Nicolas. William Nicson. — Yorks Poll-Tax, A.D. 1379. NOACK "I ( Eng. ) a contr. of AttenTOak, NOAK k'-Oke = At the Oak [E.M.E. a( NOAKE J Ipen (/or ]>er, i.) coke, o^, O.K. let \>(km (for Jpckre) dc{e]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)