Dixon (surname)
Dixon, as is common in England, or Dickson, is a patronymic surname, traditionally Scottish and thought to have originated upon the birth of the son of Richard Keith, son of Hervey de Keith, Earl Marischal of Scotland, and Margaret, daughter of the 3rd Lord of Douglas.
History
"Nisbet in his Heraldry (Edinburgh 1722) says 'The Dicksons are descendants from Richard Keith, said to be a son of the family of Keith, Earls Marischals of Scotland' and in proof thereof carry the chief of Keith Marischal. This Richard was commonly called Dick and the 'son' was styled after him. The affix of son in the Lowlands answering the prefix Mac in the Highlands." As a result, Clan Dickson is considered a sept of Clan Keith. Richard Keith's son, Thomas, took the surname "Dickson," meaning "Dick's son" or "Richard's son".
Thomas Dickson (1247–1307) himself has quite a history. He was associated in some way with William Wallace, and was killed by the English in 1307 in battle. Tradition states he was slashed across the abdomen but continued fight holding the abdominal wound closed with one hand until he finally dropped dead. He is buried in the churchyard of St Brides, Douglas, and his marker shows him with a sword in one hand holding his belly with the other. Robert the Bruce made him Castellan of Castle Douglas the year before he was killed.
The Dicksons/Dixons (and 30 other derivates) family name was first found in Scotland whilst the Dixons in England who are of Scottish descent from Thomas Dickson living in 1268 are of the same origin as the Scottish Dicksons. Early records show Thomas Dicson, a follower of the Douglas clan, at the capture of Castle Douglas in 1307.
The Dickson's coat of arms show the Keith "pallets gules" and the Douglas "mullets argent", this is to show their descent from these two ancient Scottish noble families. The family mottoes include "Fortes fortuna juvat", "Coelum versus", for Dickson: translated as "Fortune favours the brave", Heavenward"; whilst "Quod dixi dixi" Dixon, is translated as "What I have said I have said".
References
Disambiguation pages
- Ben Dixon (disambiguation), multiple people
- Cecil Dixon (disambiguation), multiple people
- Charles Dixon (disambiguation), multiple people
- Don Dixon (disambiguation), multiple people
- George Dixon (disambiguation), multiple people
- John Dixon (disambiguation), multiple people
- Larry Dixon (disambiguation), multiple people
- Michael Dixon (disambiguation), multiple people
- Paul Dixon (disambiguation), multiple people
- Richard Dixon (disambiguation), multiple people
- Robert Dixon (disambiguation), multiple people
- Stephen Dixon (disambiguation) or Steve Dixon, multiple people
- Thomas Dixon (disambiguation), multiple people
- Tom Dixon (disambiguation), multiple people
Arts and writing
- Alesha Dixon, British singer
- Alice Dixon Le Plongeon (1851–1910), English photographer
- Alice Dixon Le Plongeon, English photographer and archaeologist
- Andrew Graham-Dixon, British art critic
- Annie Dixon, English painter
- Bill Dixon, American jazz musician
- Chuck Dixon, American comic book writer
- Colton Dixon, American musician
- David Dixon, British actor and screenwriter
- Dean Dixon, American conductor
- Donna Dixon, American actress
- Ella Hepworth Dixon (1857–1932; pseudonym, "Margaret Wynman"), English writer, novelist, editor
- Eugene Dixon, birth name of American singer Gene Chandler
- Floyd Dixon, American R&B pianist
- Franklin W. Dixon, pseudonym used for Hardy Boys novel authors
- Ivan Dixon, American actor
- James Dixon (conductor), American conductor
- Jerry Dixon (musician), American musician
- Jerry Dixon (actor), American actor, director, choreographer and composer
- Jessy Dixon, gospel singer
- Joan Dixon, American actress
- Lee Dixon (actor), American actor and singer
- Leslie Dixon, American screenwriter
- Malcolm Dixon (actor), English actor
- Maxwell Dixon, American rapper known as Grand Puba
- Mort Dixon (1892–1956), American lyricist
- Reginald Dixon, British theatre organist
- Richard Watson Dixon, English poet
- Sonny Dixon, American TV anchorman
- Wheeler Winston Dixon, American film director
- Willie Dixon, American blues musician
Barons Glentoran
Politics, law, and government
- Aaron Dixon, American activist
- Abram Dixon (1787–1875), New York politician
- Alan J. Dixon, American senator
- Archibald Dixon, American politician
- Arrington Dixon, American politician
- Clay Dixon, American politician
- Sir Daniel Dixon, 1st Baronet (1844–1907), mayor of Belfast
- Frank M. Dixon, American politician
- Fred Dixon (politician), Canadian politician
- Isaiah Dixon (1923–2013), American politician
- Joseph M. Dixon, American politician
- Julian C. Dixon, Californian politician
- Monica Dixon, American political organiser
- Sir Owen Dixon, Chief Justice of Australia
- Piers Dixon (1928–2017), British politician
- Sharon Pratt Dixon, later Sharon Pratt Kelly, mayor of Washington, D.C.
- Sheila Dixon, mayor of Baltimore
- Thomas Homer-Dixon, Canadian political scientist
Sciences, medicine, and mathematics
- Adrian Dixon, radiologist and Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge
- Alfred Cardew Dixon, mathematician
- Arthur Lee Dixon, mathematician, younger brother of Alfred Dixon
- Dougal Dixon, Scottish geologist
- Hal Dixon (biochemist) (1928–2008), Irish biochemist
- Henry Horatio Dixon, Irish biologist
- James R. Dixon, American herpetologist
- Lance J. Dixon (born 1961), American theoretical physicist
- Lisa Dixon, American psychiatry professor
- Malcolm Dixon, British biochemist
- Norman F. Dixon (1922–2013), British psychologist
- Peter Dixon (economist) (born 1946), Australian economist
- Travis Dixon, American media studies scholar
Sports
- Alan Leonard Dixon, English cricketer
- Antonio Dixon, American football player
- Colin Dixon, Welsh rugby league footballer
- D'Cota Dixon (born 1996), American football player
- Dennis Dixon, American football player
- George Dixon (rugby league), English rugby league footballer of the 1920s and 1930s
- Hal Dixon (umpire) (1920–1966), American baseball umpire
- Hanford Dixon, American footballer
- Henry Hall Dixon, British sporting writer
- Hewritt Dixon, American football running back
- Ida Dixon (1854-1916), American golf course architect
- Jamie Dixon (born 1965), American basketball coach
- Juan Dixon, American basketball player
- Kerry Dixon, English footballer
- Lee Dixon, English footballer
- Maggie Dixon (1977–2006), American basketball coach (sister of Jamie Dixon)
- Malcolm Dixon (rugby league), English rugby league player
- Marcus Dixon, American football player
- Medina Dixon, American basketball player
- Peter Dixon (born 1944), English rugby union player
- Rap Dixon, American baseball player
- Reg Dixon, Canadian sailor
- Rod Dixon, New Zealand runner
- Ron Dixon (American football), American footballer
- Scott Dixon, racing driver from New Zealand
- Scott Dixon (boxer), Scottish boxer of the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s
- Stan Dixon (1894–1979), English footballer
- Waliyy Dixon (born 1974), American streetball player
Other
- Alfred Herbert Dixon (1857–1920), British businessman
- Ambrose Dixon, 17th-century American pioneer
- Amzi Dixon, American preacher
- Cromwell Dixon, American aviation pioneer
- Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr., American philanthropist, owner of the Philadelphia 76ers
- Geoff Dixon, Australian CEO
- Jane Holmes Dixon, Bishop of Washington
- Jeane Dixon (1904–1997), American astrologer
- Jeremiah Dixon, surveyor on the Mason–Dixon line
- Lorna Dixon, Australian Aboriginal custodian and preserver of the Wangkumara language
- Matthew Charles Dixon, recipient of the Victoria cross
- Patrick Dixon, British business analyst and author
- Robert M. W. Dixon (Robert Malcolm Ward Dixon), Australian linguist
- William Hepworth Dixon, British historian
Fictional characters
- Marcus Dixon (Alias), fictional character from the TV series Alias
- Daryl Dixon and Merle Dixon, fictional characters from the TV series The Walking Dead
- George Dixon, police constable in the 1950s/70s British TV series Dixon of Dock Green
See also
- Dixon v. Alabama, a landmark civil-rights case, appellant St. John Dixon
- Dixon (disambiguation)
- Dickson (surname)