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RICHARDSON Family History

This surname is a patronymic form of a very ancient personal name, and means "son of Richard". The derivation of Richard is from the Olde English "ric", power and "heard", meaning brave, hardy. It is originally Anglo-Saxon in origin, but was made very popular in England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066. Pre 7th Century Anglo-Saxon, and Norse baptismal names were usually distinctive compounds whose elements were often associated with the Gods of Fire, Water and War, or composed of disparate elements. The surname was first recorded in Scotland in the mid 14th Century (see below), and the first spelling of the surname in its modern form is found in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Returns of 1381, in one William Richardson...