Hawkins (name)


The English language surname Hawkins is said by FaNUK to have three possible origins.
The most usual origin is the forename Hawkin with an original genitival -s .
It is one of many personal names with the diminutive Middle English suffix -kin added to a single-syllable hypocoristic form, such as Robert > Hob > Hopkin, Walter > Wat > Watkin, or William > Will > Wilkin. The Middle English personal name Haw is a rhyming fond form of Raw, that is, Ralph.
Another possible origin is the placename Hawkinge, near Folkestone, in Kent, England. This was written as Hauekinge in 1204, based on Old English heafoc, or more likely this same word used as a personal name. A final 'ng' was simplified to 'n' in English generally; the final -s would be the excrescent -s added to the locative surname in the belief that it was the personal name Hawkin.
In Ireland, Hawkins may be the result of Anglicising a native surname: it was used as a substitute for Ó hEacháin ‘descendant of Eachán', as it had a vague similarity in sound to the Irish name.
In Scotland, the given name Eachann has two elements. The first element is each, meaning "horse". The second element is donn, which has been given two meanings. One proposed meaning is "brown"; the other is "lord". The early Gaelic form of the name, Eachdonn, was confused with the Norse Hakon. Hawkins and a derivative, Howkins, are a sept of Clan Stewart of Lennox and of Clan Guthrie.
In Scandinavia, we find the name Haakon, Hakon, and Håkon.

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