The surname Jackson, meaning ‘son of Jack’, stems from the first name Jack, but it is difficult to know whether Jack is a derivative of John or of Jacques (French for James). Certainly most of the diminutive forms, Jacklin, Jackett, Jaggard and so on, are from James (which see).

There are many early references to Jack and its diminutives. One Andreas filius Jake appears in the 1195—97 Pipe Rolls for Cornwall, while a Jakelinus is recorded in Yorkshire in the Book of Fees dated 1219. The earliest reference to the name Jackson itself appears in the 1327 Subsidy Rolls for Suffolk, where one Adam Jackessone is listed.

Jacksons seem to be born fighters. John ‘Gentleman’ Jackson (1769—1845) was a famous barefisted pugilist who held the English championship for eight years, then retired in 1803 to coach Lord Byron, amongst others. Peter Jackson (1861— 1901), the first great black boxer, won both the Australian heavyweight title (1886) and the British Empire title (1892) while Henry Jackson is the real name of Henry Armstrong (b. 1912), the only man to have held three world boxing championships simultaneously: featherweight (1937), welterweight (1938) and lightweight (1938).

The renowned English test cricketer, Sir Stanley Jackson (1870—1947), played against Australia in the famous 1893 series, then went on to become Governor of Bengal as well as Chairman of the Conservative Party.

The 1901 Jacksonville, Florida fire destroyed a total of over 1700 buildings.

American President Andrew Jackson (1767—1845) originated the ubiquitous American slang expression ‘OK’. Jackson’s grammar and spelling were as rough as his frontier origins. Therefore he approved presidential papers with the notation ‘OK’, his way of abbreviating ‘Oll Korrect’.

The ‘Major Mite’, whose real name was William E. Jackson (1864—1900), was one of the world’s shortest dwarfs. He was only 27 in (70 cm) tall. On the other hand, another Jackson, Baby Flo (Mrs Flora Mae Jackson), weighed over 60 stone just before her death in 1965.

There are no Jackson-related towns or major geographic features in the United Kingdom. Canada’s Newfoundland has a town called Jackson’s Arm, New Zealand has a Jackson Head (as well as a town called Jacksons) and South Africa has a Jackson’s Drift. Australia has a town called simply Jackson, as do no fewer than 16 states of America where 30 towns and cities are name related, including the well-known Jacksonville, Florida (one of 9 Jacksonvilles). Mountains in Western Australia and the United States are called Jackson, as are bays in Canada and New Zealand.

With about 165,000 namesakes Jackson is the 24th most popular surname in England and Wales. (The name is not common enough throughout Scotland to be counted separately.) Jackson is notably popular in and around Leeds where an estimated one in about 215 families bears the name. In descending numerical order Sheffield, Teesside and Bradford are other Jackson strongholds. Around the world Jacksons are most common in Auckland (one in 592 families), Wellington (one in 607) and Sydney (one in 701). The United States has more Jacksons than the entire combined populations of Bristol and Southampton-an estimated total of just over 661,000 makes this their 17th most popular surname.