Watson Surname Meaning and Origin

Watson is a patronymic surname meaning "son of Watt." The popular Middle English given names Wat and Watt were pet forms of the name Walter, meaning "powerful ruler" or "ruler of the army," from the elements wald, meaning rule, and heri, meaning army.

Watson is the 19th most common surname in Scotland and the 76th most popular surname in the United States. Watson is also popular in England, coming in as the 44th most common surname.

Surname Origin: Scottish, English

Alternate Surname Spellings: WATTIS, WATTS, WATTSON, WATS See also WATT.

Where Do People with the WATSON Surname Live

The last name Watson is common in Scotland and the Border Country, according to WorldNames PublicProfiler, most especially the northeast English counties of Cumbria, Durham, and Northumberland and the Lowlands and East of Scotland, especially in the area around Aberdeen. Surname distribution data from Forebears concurs, placing the surname at the turn of the 20th century as most common in Aberdeenshire, Angus, Fife, Lanarkshire and Midlothian in Scotland, and Yorkshire, Lancashire, Durham, Northumberland, and Cumberland (a parent county of present-day Cumbria) in England.

Famous People with the WATSON Surname

• John B. Watson: American psychologist, best known for his role in the development of behaviorism
• James Watson: American molecular biologist and geneticist, best known as one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA
• James Watt: Inventor of the modern steam engine
• Emma Watson: English actress and feminist advocate, best known for playing the role of Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film franchise
• Tom Watson: American professional golfer

Clan Watson

The crest of Clan Watson is two hands coming from the clouds holding the trunk of a sprouting oak tree. The Watson clan motto is "Insperata floruit" which means "It has flourished beyond expectation."

Sources

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

Menk, Lars. "A Dictionary of German Jewish Surnames." Bergenfield, NJ: Avotaynu, 2005.

Beider, Alexander. "A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia." Bergenfield, NJ: Avotaynu, 2004.

Hanks, Patrick, and Flavia Hodges. "A Dictionary of Surnames." New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.

Hanks, Patrick. "Dictionary of American Family Names." New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Hoffman, William F. "Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings." Chicago: Polish Genealogical Society, 1993.

Rymut, Kazimierz. "Nazwiska Polakow." Wroclaw: Zaklad Narodowy im. Ossolinskich - Wydawnictwo, 1991.

Smith, Elsdon C. "American Surnames." Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.