Aitchison is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

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

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

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

Northern England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...

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

Berwickshire Berwickshire (; ) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. The county takes its name from Berwick-upon-Tweed, its original county town, which was part of Scotland at the ...

(174.6 times the British average), followed by Haddingtonshire,

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh () is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the northwest, and Berwickshire to the north. T ...

Selkirkshire Selkirkshire or the County of Selkirk is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. It borders Peeblesshire to the west, Midlothian to the north, Roxburghshire to the east, and Dumfriesshire to the south. It de ...

Peeblesshire Peeblesshire (), the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a Counties of Scotland, 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 Lanarkshire ...

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the hi ...

, Edinburghshire,

Linlithgowshire West Lothian, also known as Linlithgowshire (its official name until 1925), is a counties of Scotland, historic county in the east central Lowlands of Scotland. until 1925. It is bounded geographically by the River Avon, Falkirk, Avon to the wes ...

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

and

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

. The Aitchisons are traditionally a mainly Borders and Lowlands family. They are considered to be a

sept A sept () is a division of a family, especially of a Scottish or Irish family. The term is used both in Scotland and in Ireland, where it may be translated as Irish , meaning "progeny" or "seed", and may indicate the descendants of a person ...

Clan Gordon Clan Gordon is a Scottish Highlands, Highland Scottish clan, historically one of the most powerful Scottish clans. The Gordon lands once spanned a large territory across the Highlands. Presently, Gordon is seated at Aboyne Castle, Aberdeenshire ...

.Alphabetical list of Scottish names associated with clans and families
In

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, the name is common only in

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

and particularly in counties Antrim and Down. Some Aitchisons are descended from Planters, 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 within the Republic 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, so ...

, 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 (1832–1896), Scottish politician * Craigie Mason Aitchison, Lord Aitchison (1882–1941), Scottish politician and judge ** His son Craigie Aitchison (painter) (1926–2009), Scottish painter * D. Craig Aitchison (born 1968), Canadian Army officer * Danielle Aitchison (born 2001), New Zealand para-athlete * Dominic Aitchison (born 1976), Scottish bassist and songwriter * Ern Aitchison (1905–1991), Australian rugby player * George Aitchison (1825–1910), British architect * George Aitchison (1864–1895), Scottish rugby player *

Gordon Aitchison Gordon Aitchison (June 14, 1909 – January 6, 1990) was a Canadian basketball player who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936 ...

(1909–1990), Canadian basketball player * Guy Aitchison (born 1968), American tattoo artist and painter * Hannah Aitchison (born 1966), American tattoo artist * Helen Aitchison (1881–1947), English tennis player * Holly Aitchison (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) (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 (1908–1994), Canadian academic and politician * James Aitchesoun,

Master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

of the Scottish Mint in 1553 * Jean Aitchison (born 1938), British linguist *

Jenny Aitchison Jennifer Kathleen Aitchison is an Australian politician who has served as Minister for Roads (New South Wales), Minister for Roads and Minister for Regional Transport in the Minns ministry since 2025. She previously served as Minister for Region ...

, Australian politician *

John Aitchison John Aitchison (22 July 1926 – 23 December 2016) was a Scottish statistician. Career John Aitchison studied at the University of Edinburgh after being uncomfortable explaining to his headmaster that he didn’t plan to attend university. H ...

(1779–1875), British Army officer *

(1926–2016), Scottish statistician *

(1928–2009), English cricketer * Martin Aitchison (1919–2016), British illustrator for ''Eagle'' comic and Ladybird books * Peter Aitchison (footballer) (1931–2022), English footballer * Peter Aitchison, New Zealand rower * Raleigh Aitchison (1887–1958), American baseball player * Ronald Ernest Aitchison (1921–1996), Australian physicist * Scott Aitchison (born 1973), Canadian politician * Suzy Aitchison, English actress * Tom Aitchison (1907–1977), Scotland rugby player * W. J. Aitchison (born 1941), Canadian Army officer *

Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is a British singer and songwriter. She began posting songs on Myspace in 2008 before entering the London rave scene. Signing a recording contract with Asylum Re ...

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

Other uses

Aitchison College Aitchison College is an elite private, boarding school, boarding Junior School, Secondary School for boys in Lahore, Pakistan. It has educated Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime ministers, including Imran Khan, Feroz Khan Noon, president of Pakist ...

, Pakistan * Dollond & Aitchison, a British chain of opticians

References

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

People

Other uses

See also

References