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Origin / History of the Wilson Name

This distinguished surname, having more than seventy Coats of Arms, and with as many notable entries in the ‘Dictionary of National Biography’ is of early medieval English origin, and is recorded throughout the British Isles.  It is a patronymic form of the male given name Will, itself a diminutive of William.  Introduced into England by William the Conqueror’, William soon became the most popular given name in England.  The Norman form and that borne by the Conqueror, was ‘Willelm’, a spelling adopted from the Frankish Empire of the 8^th Century.  The name is a compound which originally consisted of the elements ‘wil’, meaning desire, and ‘helm’, a helmet which offered protection.  Early examples of the surname recording in England include: Robertus Willelmi in the Domesday Book of 1086; Robert Willeson 1324, in records of the Manor of Wakefield, Yorkshire; whilst in 1341 Robert Wilson was recorded at Kirkstall, Yorkshire. 

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