# Aitchison
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> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Aitchison.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aitchison
> Source revision: 1336203850
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{{Infobox surname
| name = Aitchison
| pronunciation = {{IPAc-en|ˈ|eɪ|tʃ|ᵻ|s|ən}} {{respell|AY|chiss|ən}}
| image =
| caption =
| meaning = ''Adam'' ("red earth")
| region = [Scotland](/source/Scotland)
| languageorigin = [Scots](/source/Scots_language)
| variant = [Acheson](/source/Acheson_(surname)), [Atkinson](/source/Atkinson_(surname)), Aicheson, and Aitcheson, [Adcock](/source/Adcock), Atcock
| family =
| footnotes = Frequency Comparisons[[http://forebears.co.uk/surnames/aitchison Aitchison Surname at Forebears]]
}}
'''Aitchison''' is a Scottish[{{cite web
| url = http://www.ancestry.co.uk/name-origin?surname=aitchison
| title = Aitchison Surname Meaning and Distribution
| publisher = ancestry.co.uk
}} Retrieved 25 January 2014] surname of [Scots](/source/Scots_language) origin. It derives from the pet name [Atkin](/source/Atkin_(disambiguation)), which is a diminutive of [Adam](/source/Adam).[{{cite book
| last1 = Hanks
| first1 = Patrick
| author-link = Patrick Hanks
| last2 = Coates
| first2 = Richard
| authorlink2 = Richard Coates
| last3 = McClure
| first3 = Peter
| title = The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland
| publisher = [Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press)
| year = 2016
| isbn = 978-0-19-252747-9
| oclc = 964412220
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0AyDDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA94
| page = 94
}}]
Another variant of the name is [Acheson](/source/Acheson_(surname)). It corresponds to the English name [Atkinson](/source/Atkinson_(surname)), which is particularly common in [Northern England](/source/Northern_England). At the time of the British Census of 1881,[{{cite web
| url = http://forebears.co.uk/surnames/aitchison
| title = Aitchison Meaning and Distribution
| publisher = forebears.co.uk
}} Retrieved 25 January 2014] the relative frequency of the name Aitcheson was highest in [Berwickshire](/source/Berwickshire) (174.6 times the British average), followed by [Haddingtonshire](/source/Haddingtonshire), [Roxburghshire](/source/Roxburghshire), [Selkirkshire](/source/Selkirkshire), [Peeblesshire](/source/Peeblesshire), [Dumfriesshire](/source/Dumfriesshire), [Edinburghshire](/source/Edinburghshire), [Linlithgowshire](/source/Linlithgowshire), [Northumberland](/source/Northumberland) and [Lanarkshire](/source/Lanarkshire). The Aitchisons are traditionally a mainly [Borders](/source/Scottish_Borders) and [Lowlands](/source/Scottish_Lowlands) family. They are considered to be a [sept](/source/sept_(social)) of [Clan Gordon](/source/Clan_Gordon).[[https://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/alphabetical.htm Alphabetical list of Scottish names associated with clans and families].]
In Ireland, the name is common only in [Ulster](/source/Ulster) and particularly in counties [Antrim](/source/County_Antrim) and [Down](/source/County_Down). Some Aitchisons are descended from [Planters](/source/Plantation_of_Ulster), although the name was recorded in Ireland before that period.[{{cite book
| last = Bell
| first = Robert
| title = The Book of Ulster Surnames
| type = Paperback
| orig-year = 1988
| year = 1990
| publisher = The [Blackstaff Press](/source/Blackstaff_Press) Limited
| location = Belfast
| isbn = 0-85640-405-5
| url-access = registration
| url = https://archive.org/details/bookofulstersurn00robe
}}]
Acheson is a variation of the name in Scotland and the [Border region](/source/Scottish_Marches), having been originally spelled Atzinson (with the 'z' being pronounced as 'y', as in ''yet'').