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RICHARDSON - Name Meaning & Origin

By Kimberly Powell, About.com

RICHARDSON Surname Meaning & Origin:
Richardson is a patronymic name meaning "son of Richard." The given name Richard is Germanic in origin, composed of the elements ric = power and hard = hardy, brave, and means "powerful and brave." Example: Richard the Lion Hearted

Richardson is the 74th most popular surname in the United States. Ward is also popular in England, coming in as the 55th most common surname.

Surname Origin:
English
Alternate Surname Spellings:
RICHARDS, RICHARDSEN, RICHERDSON
Genealogy Resources for the Surname RICHARDSON:

100 Most Common U.S. Surnames & Their Meanings
Smith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown... Are you one of the millions of Americans sporting one of these top 100 common last names from the 2000 census?

RICHARDSON Family Genealogy Forum
Search this popular genealogy forum for the Richardson surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Richardson query.

FamilySearch - RICHARDSON Genealogy
Find records, queries, and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Richardson surname and its variations.

RICHARDSON Surname & Family Mailing Lists
RootsWeb hosts several free mailing lists for researchers of the Richardson surname.

Cousin Connect - RICHARDSON Genealogy Queries
Read or post genealogy queries for the surname Richardson, and sign up for free notification when new Richardson queries are added.

DistantCousin.com - RICHARDSON Genealogy & Family History
Free databases and genealogy links for the last name Richardson.

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References: Surname Meanings & Origins

Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967.

Menk, Lars. A Dictionary of German Jewish Surnames. Avotaynu, 2005.

Beider, Alexander. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia. Avotaynu, 2004.

Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989.

Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003.

Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.


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