Nicholson surname meaning

Nicholson is an English and Scottish patronymic surname meaning “son of Nicholas.” Nicholas circulated widely in medieval Europe, producing shortened forms such as Nichol and Nicol; Nicholson and Nicolson then recorded descent from a man known by one of those forms. In Scotland, the surname could overlap with or replace McNichol in some records. Scandinavian and other immigrant families may have received an English equivalent of a Nicholas-based patronymic, so not every line shares the same regional history. Nichol, Nicolson, and McNichol are useful comparison forms. The catalog uses parent’s name with high confidence because the surname structure is direct even when the route into a particular family differs.