Family Notes

_UIDB5E9AD4981F3EB4CA9D61FC1B9A53095C1E2
[lawson.FTW]

The Lawson Name

The surname Lawson is taken from 'Law' and denotes someone who is the'son of law'. The most
likely source of the name is either from the name Lawrence believed tohave originated from a
person who lived near a laurel tree or from the Old English word hlawmeaning a hill and therefore a
person 'the son of who lived on or near the hill'.

Records indicate that the earliest use of the Lawson name was documentedin the 14th century in
Upper Littondale, Yorkshire, an area close to the present day villages ofLitton and Arncliffe on the
River Skirfare, a tributary of the River Wharfe. Surnames or 'add-on'names can generally only be
traced back to this time in history when they were adopted in order todistinguish individuals of the
same forename. From that time the surname was handed down from father toson and occasionally
from mother to son.

It is believed that the Lawson name spread from this area to theremainder of Yorkshire and
throughout several adjoining Counties in Northern England. Records alsoindicate that the Lawson
name existed in Scotland from 14th century where it was most commonlyfound in Lowland Eastern
Counties. In Scotland Lawson families have links with the McLaren Clan.

It is probable that more than one original source of the name exists. TheLawson name today is
found commonly in all English speaking countries. There is evidence thatthe Lawson name was
adopted from the European (mostly Scandinavian) name Larsen and similarsurnames when
emigration to the British Isles took place.