# Dickson (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/dickson/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

An English and Irish surname originating as a patronymic.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 35,312 |
| US rank (2010) | 986 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 8,743 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.8% (34,698 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈdɪksən/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Dixion, Dixon |

## Etymology

From Dick + -son.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Dickson in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 76% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 17% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.1% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.4% |
| Two or more races | 2.2% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Dickson in the United States and Australia.

## People named Dickson

- Leonard Eugene Dickson, American mathematician (1874–1954)
- Gloria Dickson, American actress (1917–1945)
- Peter Dickson, Australian rower (1945–2008)
- David Dickson, Australian swimmer, Olympic bronze medallist, former world record-holder
- Brandon Dickson, American baseball player
- Earle Dickson, American engineer (1892–1961)
- Brenda Dickson, American actress
- Michael Dickson, Australian player of American football
- Kitty Dukakis, American author (1936–2025)

## Similar surnames

Dixon, Dickison, Dizon, Dixson, Dicken, Dishon, Diskin, Dawson, Dugan, Duggan, Dyson, Deason.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.