This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. the son of Walter.' Middle English Water, Old French Wauter and Watier.

'My name is Walter Whitmore. How now! why start'st thou? what! doth death affright? Suffolk. Thy name affrights me, in whose sound is death. A cunning man did calculate my birth, And told me that by Water I should die.': 2 Henry VI, Act iv. sc. 1.

'The account of Wattare Taylor and Wyllyam Partrynge, benge churchewardens': Churchwardens Accounts, Ludlow, 1541, Cam. Soc.

Wauter de Cornwaille, 1313. Writs of Parliament.

Alicia Wartson, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

Johannes Wauterson, 1379: ibid.

John Waterson, Yorkshire: Deposition from York Castle (Surtees Society).

1579- Judith, d. of Water Arksone, stranger: St. Dionis Backchurch (London).

1563. Baptised — William, son of Water Lancaster: St. Antholin (London).

— Buried — Water Right, servant to Richard Clarke: ibid.

1588. Margaret Watterson, of Cartmell: Lancashire Wills at Richmond.

Married — Edward Waterson and Jane Harrison: St. Michael, Cornhill.

A personal name, Teutonic Walther, Walthar, Old English W(e)aldhere, 'powerful warrior.' Wealdhere in AF. became Wautier, which when spelled Walter at a later period was long pronounced Water, and so gave name to Wat, Watt, and Wattie. Patrick Walter was a tenant under Douglas in the barony of Buittle, 1376 (RHM., I, p. lix). Valter 1490.

Forms of 'Walters,' 'son of Walter.' which see. Alison Walters in Fishweicke, 1676 (Lauder). Sergeant-Major Watters distinguished himself in the first Great War and was promoted to captain.

A surname of territorial origin from more than one place of the name. (1) From lands of the name formerly in the parish of Fearn. These lands probably obtained their name from Walter, uncle and tutor of Dempster, one of the heirs portioners of the lordsnip of Menmuir. A payment of twenty-five shillings by William de Walteristoun to David Scot, custos of the burgh of Montrose, is recorded in 1329-and David de Walterstoun had eight marks out of the farms in the thanage of Tannadyce, 1359 (ER., I, p. 158,589). David Walterstoun de eodem was one of the assize chosen to perambulate the marches of Brechin and Balzeordie, 1450 (REB., I, 141; II, 79). Hew Vattyrstone or Watterstone of that Ilk who was on assize held at Forfar, 1495 (RAA., II, 354) is probably Hugh Watterstoun de eodem who witnessed a retour of service at Forfar, 1514 (SCM., V, p. 292). The Angus Watersons, surname and place name, have long since disappeared. (2) in the reign of Robert II William Waterstoun of that Ilk alienated the lands of Waterstoun in the parish of Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire, to Sir William Cunningham of Kilmains (Crawford-Semple, Hist. Renfrew, pt. II, p. 141; OPS., I, p. 85, says in 1384). The land of quondam Alexander Walterstoune in Glasgow is mentioned, c. 1540 (LCD., p. 39), and Thomas Wattirstoune was burgess of Glasgow, 1E. 52 (Protocols, I). (3) There were also Watersons of that Ilk in Midlothian. A family of this name were royal surgeons. Robert I granted in 1317 a charter to William of Watterston "filio et heredi quondam Johannis surgici, dilecto et fideli nostro" (BMC., 2. Rep. App., p. 181). Watherston and Waltherston are old surnames in Lauderdale, and James Waderstone and William Wadderstoun were bedesmen of Thirlstane Hospital, 1676 (Thomson, Lauder, p. 71), See also Watherston.

A form of Walterson, q.v.: cp. Wate rs.

Johannes Wauterson.—Yorks Poll-Tax, A.D. 1379.

See Watson.

A personal name of Teutonic origin, but not introduced here until the Conquest. Walterus is common among the Domesday tenants. It has become the parent of several surnames, particularly Walters, Waterson, Fitzwalter, Watt, Watts, Watson, Watkins, Watkinson, Watcock.

In some dialects, the word water is applied to lakes and rivers, as Ullswater, Derwent-water, Black-water. Upon the adoption of surnames by the common people, a person who resided near such a place would be called William or John Atte-Water, still retained in Attwater; but on the omission of the preposition in the XV. century, the name was pluralized to Waters. The latinizations are De Aqua and Ad Aquam. See Water.

A wood—master or keeper of the wood.

Local. A name given to one who navigated the waters, or resided near them.

A corruption of Walterson, is a translation of MacWalter. It seems probable that the English-speaking MacWalters would adopt this name, whilst the Celtic would consent to have their name con­tracted into Qualtrqugh. We find Water as a corrup­tion of Walter in England. Thus in the churchwardens’ books at Ludlow we have 'The account of Wattare Taylor and Wyllyam Partynge, beynge churchwardens, in the xxxii yere of the rayne of Kyng Henry the eighth a.d. 1541’; and in the account of Suffolk's death in Shakespeare’s Henry VI., the murderer says: 'My name is Walter Whitmore, How now! Why start’st thou? What doth death affright! Suffolk. Thy name affrights me, in whose sound is death.

A cunning man did calculate my birth, And told me that by Water I should die.' Some think that Watterson is a translation of Mac-yn-ushtey, 'Water-Son', but this is very doubtful. The only entry in the Registers of such a name is at Malew in 1669, when it states distinctly that 'William Macynustey' was 'an Irishman.’ Kodere was formerly used as a synonym for Watter­son, members of the same family being called indifferently by one name or the other, Kodere, however, is not found in the Parish Registers, which looks as if it had been used merely as a nickname. Professor Rhys in­geniously conjectures that Kodere may be a contraction of MacOtter, and that Watterson is Otterson.

Watterson is as common in the southern parishes as Qualtrough.

The surname Watson literally means ‘son of Wat’. The first name Wat is a diminutive of the first name Walter (as in Wat Tyler, the leader of the Peasants’ Revolt during the reign of Richard II). This derivation arose because in medieval times the usual pronunciation of Walter was Water.

The first name Walter derives from the Old German name Waldhari. This is made up of two words-‘wald’ meaning ‘rule’, and ‘hari’ meaning ‘army’. So some original Walters may have been war leaders.

The first name Walter came to England with the Norman Conquest and appears frequently as a first name in the Domesday Book (where it was invariably Latinised to Walterius). Right through to the mid-seventeenth century it was more customary to pronounce this first name Water, and in consequence the popular diminutive Wat (or Watt) gave rise to that surname.

Other variations of names from the first-name source of Walter include Watts (short for Watson) and Watmough (‘Walter’s brother-in-law’). Waters (short for Walter’s son, derived from the early pronunciation of the surname as Waters) is also a derivation from a place name for a ‘dweller by the water or stream’.

The surname Watson is widespread throughout the land, but appears most numerously in the north of England and the southern Scottish counties.

The earliest appearance of the name Watson in the records is in the 1324 Rolls for the Manor of Wakefield in Yorkshire, when one Richard Watson is listed.

Watsons and Watts have excelled in many fields of science. The Scottish inventor James Watt (1736—1819) is generally credited with the invention of the steam engine, for which he was granted a patent in 1769; the watt, a unit of power, is named after him and he also coined the term ‘horsepower’; another of his inventions was the duplicating machine, to make quick copies of his records. Another Scotsman, the physicist Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt (1892—1973) was knighted in 1942 for his role in the development of radar (Radio Detection And Ranging), a device for locating aircraft which played a vital part in the defence of Britain against German bombing raids in World War II. Another, Dr Thomas A. Watson, worked as assistant to Alexander Graham Bell when he made the first trans-Atlantic telephone call in 1915. The American geneticist, James D. Watson (b. 1928), won a Nobel Prize in 1962 for his crucial role in the discovery of the molecular structure of DNA, the vital constituent in the genetic process.

In August 1965 Watts Riot in the Los Angeles ghetto (35,000 inhabitants) was the first big race riot in American history. Five days of burning, shooting and looting left 34 dead, 200 buildings destroyed and led to 3,900 arrests.

Charles Watson-Wentworth, Marquis of Rockingham (1730— 82), made a large bet that he could drive a coach and horses at full gallop through the eye of a needle. He then craftily built a 40-foot obelisk with a large opening at the base and won the wager. The ‘Needle’s Eye Folly’ still stands at Wentworth in Yorkshire as a memorial to his ingenuity.

English clergyman Isaac Watts (1674—1748) wrote hundreds of hymns, including ‘O God Our Help in Ages Past’ and ‘When I Survey the Wondrous Cross’.

British-born chemist Richard Watson (1737—1816) was credited with saving the government £100,000 in 1787 with his improvements to gunpowder.

Places and geographic features named for Watson are rare. There are none in the United Kingdom, one each in Canada and Australia (towns called Watson), while the United States has 3 towns so named along with a Watsonton and a Watsonville. No major mountains are so named and only a few bodies of water: Canada’s Watson lake and Watson river and Australia’s Watson bay.

With about 118,000 namesakes Watson is the 43rd most popular surname in England and Wales. There are over 21,000 Watsons in Scotland where it is 17th in popularity. Watson is notably popular in and around Edinburgh where an estimated one in about 195 families bears the name. In descending numerical order Teesside, Glasgow and Leeds are other Watson strongholds. Around the world Watsons are most common in Wellington (one in 562 families), Canberra (one in 605) and Auckland (one in 607). The United States has more Watsons than the entire population of Derby-an estimated total of just over 252,000 makes this their 71st most popular surname.