Saxon
A surname that can point to a person from Saxony, a shortened form of Saxton, or, less often, the ethnic name Saxon itself.
The #4,685 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 40,753 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname has more than one possible origin. It may be a short form of Saxton, a surname linked to the church term sexton or to the Yorkshire place-name Saxton. It can also be a nickname or byname for someone from Saxony, or in some cases a direct use of the ethnic name Saxon, from Old English Seaxan and Latin Saxones, meaning the Saxons.
History
Nineteenth-century surname writers generally treated Saxon as uncommon and somewhat ambiguous. Lower thought it was more likely a later settler from Saxony, though he also allowed a connection with sexton or Saxton. Harrison likewise described it as a syncopated form of Saxton, a patronymic from Sax, or, less likely, a direct ethnic term.
Origin
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Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older reference works explicitly warn that this surname is easy to confuse with Saxon the people, but the family name often has a different, more local origin.
From the historical record
“of the fll. suff. -ing -f ham, home, estate] SAXON I a syncopated form of Saxton, q.v. 2 Sax's Son : v. Sax. 3 the name may sporadically represent the ethnic term Saxon, but poss. more likely as a transl. ot the Germ. Sachs(e [Lai . Saxones, Saxons ; O.E. S(e)axan, pi. : V. under Sax] SAXTON (A.-Fr.-Lat.)…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)