ANDERSON - Name Meaning & Origin

by Kimberly Powell
Kimberly Powell is a former president of the Association of Professional Genealogists and an instructor at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh.
Updated June 02, 2017

ANDERSON Surname Meaning & Origin:

Patronymic surname meaning "son of Andrew." Andrew (man, manly) was the first of Jesus' disciples, and was a revered name in medieval times due to its church connections. St. Andrew is the patron saint of both Scotland and Russia.

Swedish patronymic "son" names traditionally end in -son, not -sen. In Denmark the regular patronymic is -sen. In Norway, both are used, although -sen is more common. Icelandic names traditionally end in -son or -dotir.

Surname Origin:

Swedish, Danish, Norwegian English

Alternate Surname Spellings:

ANDERSEN, ANDERSSON, ANDERSSEN, MCANDREWS

Fun Facts About the ANDERSON Surname:

Many Danes, Norwegians and Swedes who emigrated to America with the last name Andersson or Anderssen, dropped the extra -S after their arrival.

Famous People with the Surname ANDERSON:

  • Pamela Anderson - Canadian-American model and actress
  • Mary Anderson - inventor of the windshield wiper
  • Willie Anderson - professional Scottish golfer
  • Joe Anderson - British actor
  • Wes Anderson - independent filmmaker
  • Hans Christian Anderson - Danish author

Genealogy Resources for the Surname ANDERSON:

100 Most Common U.S. Surnames & Their Meanings
Smith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown... Are you one of the millions of Americans sporting one of these top 100 common last names from the 2000 census?

Anderson and Andersen Family DNA Project
Join Anderson and Andersen individuals worldwide working together to sort out Anderson families from different countries and connect Anderson families who came to America through DNA.

Anderson Family Genealogy Forum
Search this popular genealogy forum for the Anderson surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Anderson query. There are also separate forums for the ANDERSEN and ANDERSSEN variations of the Anderson surname.

FamilySearch - ANDERSON Genealogy
Find records, queries, and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Anderson surname and its variations.

ANDERSON Surname & Family Mailing Lists
RootsWeb hosts several free mailing lists for researchers of the Anderson surname.

Cousin Connect - ANDERSON Genealogy Queries
Read or post genealogy queries for the surname Anderson, and sign up for free notification when new Anderson queries are added.

DistantCousin.com - ANDERSON Genealogy & Family History
Free databases and genealogy links for the last name Anderson.

-- Looking for the meaning of a given name? Check out First Name Meanings

-- Can't find your last name listed? Suggest a surname to be added to the Glossary of Surname Meanings & Origins.

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References: Surname Meanings & Origins

Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967.

Menk, Lars. A Dictionary of German Jewish Surnames. Avotaynu, 2005.

Beider, Alexander. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia. Avotaynu, 2004.

Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989.

Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003.

Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.