Humanities › History & Culture ANDERSON - Name Meaning & Origin Share Flipboard Email Print 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 Kimberly Powell, professional genealogist, author and educator, is the author of The Everything Guide to Online Genealogy. Updated May 23, 2019 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 actressMary Anderson - inventor of the windshield wiperWillie Anderson - professional Scottish golferJoe Anderson - British actorWes Anderson - independent filmmakerHans Christian Anderson - Danish author Genealogy Resources for the Surname ANDERSON: 100 Most Common U.S. Surnames & Their MeaningsSmith, 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 ProjectJoin 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 ForumSearch 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 GenealogyFind records, queries, and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Anderson surname and its variations. ANDERSON Surname & Family Mailing ListsRootsWeb hosts several free mailing lists for researchers of the Anderson surname. Cousin Connect - ANDERSON Genealogy QueriesRead 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 HistoryFree 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. ----------------------- 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. >> Back to Glossary of Surname Meanings & Origins Continue Reading