Humanities › History & Culture Anderson Name Meaning & Origin Share Flipboard Email Print Wes Anderson, Filmmaker. Getty Images / Mike Pont History & Culture Genealogy Surnames Basics Genealogy Fun Vital Records Around the World American History African American History African History Ancient History and Culture Asian History European History Inventions Latin American History Medieval & Renaissance History Military History The 20th Century Women's History View More By Kimberly Powell Genealogy Expert Certificate in Genealogical Research, Boston University B.A., Carnegie Mellon University Kimberly Powell is a professional genealogist and the author of The Everything Guide to Online Genealogy. She teaches at the Genealogical Institute of Pittsburgh and the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. our editorial process Kimberly Powell Updated October 22, 2019 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 Famous Andersons Pamela Anderson: Canadian-American model and actressMary Anderson: inventor of the windshield wiperWillie Anderson: professional Scottish golferJoe Anderson: British actorWes Anderson: independent filmmakerHans Christian Anderson: Danish author Genealogy Resources 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: Read or post genealogy queries for the surname Anderson, and sign up for free notification when new Anderson queries are added.DistantCousin.com: Free databases and genealogy links for the last name Anderson. References 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.