Aitchison is a Scottish

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

of Scots origin. It derives from the pet name Atkin, which is a diminutive of

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

. Another variant of the name is Acheson. It corresponds to the English name Atkinson, which is particularly common in

Northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angles, Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Scandinavian York, K ...

. At the time of the British Census of 1881, the relative frequency of the name Aitcheson was highest in

Berwickshire Berwickshire ( gd, Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. Berwickshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, when the area became part of th ...

(174.6 times the British average), followed by

Haddingtonshire East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the hist ...

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh ( gd, Siorrachd Rosbroig) is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the north-west, and Be ...

, Selkirkshire,

Peeblesshire Peeblesshire ( gd, Siorrachd nam Pùballan), the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a historic county of Scotland. Its county town is Peebles, and it borders Midlothian to the north, Selkirkshire to the east, Dumfriesshire to the south, and ...

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...

Edinburghshire Midlothian (; gd, Meadhan Lodainn) is a historic county, registration county, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh, ...

Linlithgowshire West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geographically by the Av ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

and

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotl ...

. The Aitchisons are traditionally a mainly

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

and Lowlands family. They are considered to be a sept of Clan Gordon.Alphabetical list of Scottish names associated with clans and families
In

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, the name is common only in

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

and particularly in counties Antrim and Down. Some Aitchisons are descended from

Planters Planters Nut & Chocolate Company is an American snack food company now owned by Hormel Foods. Planters is best known for its processed nuts and for the Mr. Peanut icon that symbolizes them. Mr. Peanut was created by grade schooler Antonio Gentil ...

, although the name was recorded in Ireland before that period. Acheson is a variation of the name in Scotland and the

Border region The Border Region (coded IE041) is a NUTS Level III statistical region of Ireland. The name of the region refers to its location along the Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border. It is not a cross-border region. It comprises the Irish cou ...

, having been originally spelled Atzinson (with the 'z' being pronounced as 'y', as in ''yet'').

People

* Alexander Aitchison (1850–1905), Canadian fire chief * Barrie Aitchison (1937–2021), English footballer * Beatrice Aitchison (1908–1997), American mathematician, statistician, and transportation economist * Ben Aitchison (born 1999), English cricketer * Cara Aitchison (born 1965), British human geographer and academic *

Charles Umpherston Aitchison Sir Charles Umpherston Aitchison (20 May 1832 – 18 February 1896) was a Scottish colonial administrator who was Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab, then a province of British India. He founded Aitchison College, Lahore in 1886. He ...

(1832–1896), Scottish politician *

Craigie Mason Aitchison, Lord Aitchison Craigie Mason Aitchison (26 January 1882 – 2 May 1941) was a Scottish politician and judge. Early life Mason was born on 16 January 1882 in Falkirk, the second son of Elizabeth Mason Craigie and Revd James Aitchison, senior minister of ...

(1882–1941), Scottish politician and judge ** His son

Craigie Aitchison (painter) John Ronald Craigie Aitchison Order of the British Empire, CBE Royal Scottish Academician, RSA Royal Academician, RA (13 January 192621 December 2009) was a Scottish painter. He was best known for his many paintings of the Crucifixion of Jesus, ...

(1926–2009), Scottish painter * D. Craig Aitchison (born 1968), Canadian Army officer *

Danielle Aitchison Danielle Aitchison (born 16 August 2001) is a New Zealand para-athlete who is representing her country at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. She competes in the 100 metres and 200 metres in international events. Biography Aitchison was born in Mo ...

(born 2001), New Zealand para-athlete *

Dominic Aitchison Dominic Aitchison (born 11 October 1976) is a Scottish bassist and songwriter. He is best known as the bassist and founding member of post-rock band Mogwai. Aside from Mogwai, he also played bass guitar in Crippled Black Phoenix and Stage Blood ...

(born 1976), Scottish bassist and songwriter * Ern Aitchison (1905–1991), Australian rugby player *

George Aitchison George Aitchison Jr. RA (London 7 November 1825 – 16 May 1910) was a British architect. He was the son of George Aitchison (1792–1861) who was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and University College London and articled to archit ...

(1825–1910), British architect *

(1864–1895), Scottish rugby player * Gordon Aitchison (1909–1990), Canadian basketball player *

Guy Aitchison Guy Aitchison (born 1968) is an American tattoo artist and painter. He was featured on the tattoo reality television shows ''LA Ink'' and ''Tattoo Wars''. Biography Guy Aitchison was born in Michigan. He began painting album covers in 1985 and ...

(born 1968), American tattoo artist and painter * Hannah Aitchison (born 1966), American tattoo artist * Helen Aitchison (1881–1947), English tennis player *

Holly Aitchison Holly Nielle Aitchison (born 13 September 1997) is an English rugby union player for Bristol Bears Women. She has played international representative rugby at the World Cup, Olympic Games, and Six Nations Championships. Early life Born in Sout ...

(born 1997), English rugby player * Ian Aitchison (born 1936), English physicist * Jack Aitchison (1911–1976), Australian rugby player * Jack Aitchison (born 2000), Scottish footballer *

James Aitchison (cricketer) James Aitchison (26 May 1920 – 13 February 1994) was a Scottish minister in the Church of Scotland and a first-class cricketer. Career Only two other players have appeared more times in first class cricket for Scotland, and Aitchison holds th ...

(1920–1994), Scottish first class cricketer *

James Edward Tierney Aitchison James Edward Tierney Aitchison MD LLD CIE (28 October 1835 – 30 September 1898) was a Scottish surgeon and botanist. He worked as British Commissioner to Ladakh, India in 1872 and collected numerous specimens from the region and published cata ...

(1836–1898), Scottish surgeon and botanist *

James H. Aitchison James Hermiston Aitchison (1908 – July 12, 1994) was a Canadian academic and politician and leader of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party. Born in Innerleithen, Scotland, he was the son of James Charles Aitchison and Elizabeth Fleming. H ...

(1908–1994), Canadian academic and politician * James Aitchesoun,

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

of the Scottish Mint in 1553 *

Jean Aitchison Jean Margaret Aitchison (born 3 July 1938) is a Professor Emerita of Language and Communication in the Faculty of English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford. Her main areas of interest i ...

(born 1938), British linguist *

Jenny Aitchison Jennifer Kathleen Aitchison is an Australian politician in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as member for Maitland for the Labor Party at the 2015 New South Wales state election. She is currently the Shadow Minister for Transport in th ...

, Australian politician * John Aitchison (1779–1875), British Army officer * John Aitchison (1926–2016), Scottish statistician * John Aitchison (1928–2009), English cricketer *

Martin Aitchison Martin Henry Hugh Aitchison (21 November 1919 – 22 October 2016) was an illustrator for the ''Eagle'' comic from 1952 to 1963, and then one of the main illustrators for Ladybird Books from 1963 to 1990. Aitchison was born in Kings Norto ...

(1919–2016), British illustrator for ''Eagle'' comic and Ladybird books * Peter Aitchison (born 1931), English footballer * Peter Aitchison, New Zealand rower *

Raleigh Aitchison Raleigh Leonidas Aitchison (December 5, 1887 – September 26, 1958), nicknamed "Redskin" was a pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1911 to 1915. He continued to pitch in the minor leagues through 1923 with an assortment of teams. After his ret ...

(1887–1958), American baseball player * Ronald Ernest Aitchison (1921–1996), Australian physicist *

Scott Aitchison Scott Aitchison (born January 14, 1973) is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Parry Sound—Muskoka in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2019 Canadian federal election. Prior to his election, he served as m ...

(born 1973), Canadian politician * Suzy Aitchison, English actress * Tom Aitchison (1907–1977), Scotland rugby player *

W. J. Aitchison Colonel William Joseph (W.J.) "Joe" Aitchison, OMM, CD (born December 5, 1941) is a retired Canada, Canadian Canadian military, military officer, and former Colonel of the Regiment for the Royal Canadian Regiment. He is also a security consultant a ...

(born 1941), Canadian Army officer *

Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is an English singer and songwriter. Born in Cambridge and raised in Start Hill, Essex, she began posting songs on Myspace in 2008, which led to her discovery ...

, real name Charlotte Aitchison (born 1992), British singer-songwriter

Other uses

Aitchison College Aitchison College ( ur, ایچیسن کالج) is an independent, semi-private boys school for boarding and day students from grade 1–13 in Lahore, Pakistan. It has a tradition of providing an education that uses academics, sports, and co-curri ...

, Pakistan *

Dollond & Aitchison Dollond & Aitchison was one of the oldest chains of retail opticians in the United Kingdom, having been established in 1750. The business was absorbed into Boots Opticians in 2009 and stores were rebranded under the Boots Opticians name, comp ...

, a British chain of opticians

References

{{surname English-language surnames Surnames of English origin Surnames of Lowland Scottish origin Surnames of Ulster-Scottish origin

People

Other uses

See also

References