Dickin is a surname of English and Irish origin originating in the mid-11th century during the Norman conquests.

History

The origin of the Dickin surname stems from the Norman conquests of 1066 and King Richard the First of England.

Patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...

naming, established following the Norman conquests, meant that Richard's son would become Richardson (Richard + Son). Eventually, as the shorthand for Richard became "Dick" the name morphed into Dickson and several other related names. In order to be gender neutral, the name also morphed into being the

kin __NOTOC__ Kin usually refers to kinship and family. Kin or KIN may also refer to: Culture and religion *Otherkin, people who identify as not entirely human *Kinism, a white supremacist religious movement * Kinh, the majority ethnic group of V ...

of Richard, as in Richard's kin or Dick + Kin, which was eventually shortened to Dickin.

Geographic settlement

Great Britain

The 1891 England and Wales census shows a high concentration of Dickin families in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

(19%),

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

(23%), and

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

(15%). A large number of records between 1532 and 1812 show the prominent use of the Dickin surname at that time.

North America

The earliest known records of the Dickin family in North America show John Dickin landing in New England in 1753 and Alexander Dickin landing in Maryland in 1813.

Alternate spellings

While the root of the surname is always Richard, the Dickin surname has seen its spelling changed. This is mainly due to the societal illiteracy of the time; writing had not become widespread throughout society and many names were spoken, but rarely written. * Dicun * Dycon * Diccon * Dykyns * Dikins * Dicin * Dikun * Dicon * Dicconson

Related surnames

With Richard as its root patronymic, Dickin is related to several other surnames: *

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

Richardson Richardson may refer to: People * Richardson (surname), an English and Scottish surname * Richardson Gang, a London crime gang in the 1960s * Richardson Dilworth, Mayor of Philadelphia (1956-1962) Places Australia * Richardson, Australian Cap ...

* Dickson *

Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

* Dickenson * Dixon *

Dickins Dickins is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Alan Dickins, Arundel Herald of Arms Extraordinary *Barry Dickins (born 1949), Australian author, artist and playwright *Bruce Dickins FBA (1889–1978), Elrington and Bosworth Profes ...

Notable people with the surname

* Albert Dickin (1901–1955), British swimmer * John Dickin (1899–1966), British swimmer *

Maria Dickin Maria Elisabeth Dickin CBE (nickname, Mia; 22 September 1870 – 1 March 1951) was a social reformer and an animal welfare pioneer who founded the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) in 1917. The Dickin Medal is named for her. Early ...

(1870–1951), British social reformer *

Mike Dickin Robert Michael Dickin (28 September 1943 – 18 December 2006), was an English radio DJ, best known as the late-night host on the radio station talkSPORT. Early life Dickin was born in 1943 in Reading, Berkshire. Career Dickin started ou ...

(1943–2006), English radio DJ

References

{{Surname, Dickin Scottish surnames Surnames of English origin Surnames of Irish origin