Which is the Correct Meaning of Dawson?

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-18-2006
Which is the Correct Meaning of Dawson?
2
Sun, 04-15-2007 - 9:31pm

I read in a couple of books and web sites that Dawson means "son of David." Somewhere else, I read it meant "son of Ralph" (sounds like a stretch to me, but okay). Do you know which, if either, is the accurate definition of Dawson?

Thanks!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-06-2006
Sun, 04-15-2007 - 10:23pm

Well, I've only heard/seen "son of David." Behindthename.com is usually dependable, and it confirms the "son of David" meaning. "Son of Ralph" sounds like a stretch to me, too. :)

Allie


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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-29-2005
Sun, 04-15-2007 - 10:27pm

Dawson does mean "son of David," and I can honestly say I've NEVER seen the "son of Ralph" meaning.

The best explanation I could come up with is that Ralph is a contracted form of Radulf, so perhaps Dawson has occasionally been misinterpreted as stemming from "Dulfson," or "son of Dulf," in turn loosely meaning "son of Ralph." Otherwise, I've no clue where that came from.

David would most certainly be the generally-accepted root, I'm sure. ;)

HTH


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