Dixon surname meaning

Dixon is a patronymic meaning “son of Dick.” Dick was a familiar medieval form of Richard, so the surname records descent from a father or ancestor known by that short name. Dickson makes the same construction more transparent, while Dikson and Dixson show spelling variation in English and Scottish records. Richard’s older Germanic name history is not needed to decode the family name. Several unrelated families could form Dixon wherever Dick was used, so the surname does not prove descent from one titled Scottish house. Parent’s name is the high-confidence catalog type.