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Where does 'Hodgson' come from?

A view over the Lake Distict, Cumbria, UK, from where many Hodgson families originated.

The Conflicting Theories of Hodgson Etymology

Surnames became widely established in England in the fourteenth century. What was the context in which the Hodgson surname evolved? How was it formed? To answer these questions we have to examine both the possible etymologies of the name and the likely locations in which the Hodgson surname originated. This article shows that the Hodgson surname originated in areas where Norse Vikings invaded in the tenth century and argues that the name is of Norse origin. (To access a counterargument to this thesis, click HERE. Geoffrey M Hodgson's answer to the criticism therein is at the end of this article.)


From the ninth century to the eleventh century, Britain was harried by Viking raiders and invaders. Among these Vikings, the Norse came from Norway and the Danes from Denmark. They differed slightly in terms of their language and culture. The Danes invaded Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, whereas the Norse settled in Ireland and northwest Scotland, before arriving on the northwest coast of England in the tenth century. 


A number of Victorian authorities noted the possibility that the Hodgson surname could be derived from the Norse personal names Oddi, Oddr or Oddgeir, associated with Norse Viking invaders of Northern England (Barber 1903, Bardsley 1901, Ferguson 1858). 


However, the Norse origins of the Hodgson surname were later disregarded, in favour of the view that it is derived from ‘son of Roger’ (Reaney 1958), possibly through the related nickname or diminutive ‘Hodge’. Roger is a Norman French name and this explanation would imply that the Hodgson surname derived directly or indirectly from names introduced by the Norman invaders of England in 1066. Others have suggested that the Hodgson surname may derive from Hrodgar - which is the Anglo-Saxon equivalent of Roger - and it thus originates from descendants of the Anglo-Saxon invaders of the fifth and sixth centuries.

The Problems with the Norman and Anglo-Saxon Proposals

Percentages of Marriages to a Hodgson Male in Northern England, 1539-1700

(Map reproduced from G. M. Hodgson, Hodgson Saga, Martlet Books, 2005, 2008.)

The main problem with proposals that the Hodgson surname has Norman or Anglo-Saxon origins is that the patterns of settlement of these groups do not correspond with the actual distribution of Hodgson surnames in pre-industrial times, nor even as they are still distributed today.

Hodgson Surname Distribution 1881

Hodgson Surname Distribution 1998

The maps above show the show the distribution of the Hodgson surname according to the http://www.britishsurnames.co.uk website. Darker shades of red show higher levels of surname concentration. The 1881 map clearly shows a greater density of Hodgsons in Cumbria, west of the Pennines. By 1998 the surname had further diffused to other areas of Britain.

All the comprehensive evidence available shows that the Hodgson surname was historically of a greater density among the population to the west of the Pennines, in the North of England. This evidence is inconsistent with notions that the Hodgson Surname is of Anglo-Saxon or Norman origin. Instead it suggests that the Hodgson surname originated in Cumbria, an area of Irish-Norse settlement in the tenth century.

 

W. Parson and W. White (1829) published a list of surnames among the gentry and tradespeople in Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness, in the northeast of England. Notably, Hodgson was the seventh most common at 1.2 per cent. Atkinson and Armstrong were the fourth and fourteenth most common, respectively.

Click HERE for an analysis of the Parson and White data, including on other Cumbrian surnames.

Click HERE for a link to a site with information on the overall number of Hodgsons in UK censuses from 1841 to 1891, and for data on the most popular Hodgson first names.

The Normans arrived in the South of England in 1066, and settled there in relatively greater numbers. The Anglo-Saxons came from across the North Sea, and populated Eastern and Southern regions of Britain more than others. In Northern England, the Anglo-Saxons were more numerous on the east side of the Pennines, where the core of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria was located.
 
In terms of percentages of the population, the Hodgson surname is most common in Cumbria, in the Northwest of England, which was colonised by Norse Viking invaders in the tenth century. These Vikings came originally from Norway. They had previously settled in Ireland but were temporally ejected by Irish tribes in 902 (Baldwin and Whyte 1985, Wainwright, 1975, pp. 131-61). So genetically they were a mixture of Irish and Norse stock, with probably a bit of Danish thrown in.

Patterns of Norse and Danish Settlement in Northern England in the Eleventh Century

(Data derived from place-names. Map reproduced from G. M. Hodgson, Hodgson Saga, Martlet Books, 2005, 2008.
Historical atlases confirm a similar pattern of Norse and Danish settlement.)

DNA Evidence for the Norse Origin of Hodgson

There is a close correlation between the population density of the Hodgson surname and the pattern of Norse settlement in the eleventh century (Hodgson, 1993). Furthermore, recent DNA evidence confirms a relatively high percentage of Norse blood among male Hodgsons (Hodgson, 2005, 2008). This percentage of Norse blood among male Hodgsons is as high as in the Shetland and Orkney Islands, where the Norse are known to have settled in large numbers.
 
The evidence clearly suggests that the Hodgson surname has Norse roots. It is thus likely to derive from Oddgeir-son or Hrodgeir-son. Oddgeir as a first name is still in use in Norway today.
 
The Scandinavians used occasional and temporary filial names many centuries before the establishment of permanent surnames along the male line. Hence, from the eleventh to the fourteenth centuries, names deriving from Oddgeir, Oddr or Oddi, such as Oddgeirson, Oddgson, Oddson or Odesun, were found among the Norse cultural remnants in the North of England. Names such as Oddgson became locally familiar as second names, and as early as the tenth century.
 
Another possibility is that Hodgson derives from the Norse name Hrodgeir, which is related to the name of the Old English king Hrodgar in the ancient tale of Beowulf. Here the leading ‘H’ in Hodgson is acquired directly from the Norse. But as far as I am aware there is no indication by etymologists of a possible derivation of Hodgson from Hrodgeirson. It is nevertheless an attractive alternative hypothesis.
 
When surname transmission began in the fourteenth century, surviving second names such as Oddgeirson, Oddgson, Oddson, Hrodgeirson, Hodgeson or Hodgson would be passed more systematically from father to son in the modern manner, as family names. Subsequently the fixed surname would be passed on through the male line to all succeeding generations. Eventually Oddson, Oddgeirson or Hodgeirson would have become transformed to Hodgson.
 
In areas such a Cumbria and Lonsdale, the Norse language survived for centuries after the Norse invasions (Bugge 1921). Forenames such as Oddgeir would have been much more common than Roger or Hodge. Most Hodgson families originate from Norse area. While we cannot rule out the possibility that some Hodgson surnames derive from Hodge, the majority derive from Oddgeir, Oddr, Oddi or Hrodgeir.

The Meanings of Oddgeir and Hrodgeir

Surname distribution and DNA evidence clearly suggest that the Hodgson surname is Norse. It is thus likely to derive from the Norse compound names Oddgeir-son or Hrodgeir-son.


Oddgeir is still found in modern Norway. The words ‘odd’ or ‘oddr’ mean literally ‘sharp point’, or ‘arrowhead’. The word ‘geir’ means ‘spear’. Hence Oddgeir means ‘point of spear’. Another Norse name is Hrodgeir, meaning ‘fame spear’.


What is the origin and meaning of ‘point of spear’ or ‘fame spear’? In a Dictionary of Northern Mythology (Simek 1993, p. 242), under the entry for Odin – the father of the gods in Norse mythology – we find the following answer:


According to the Ynglinga saga 4, it was Odin who first brought war into the world, and battles are begun by a spear being thrown into the hostile army to dedicate it to Odin.


One of Odin’s attributes is his spear, and he is often depicted riding a horse and holding aloft this weapon. In Viking times a member of a Norse army was charged with the privilege of starting the battle by lunging a spear over the enemy. This would be the ‘fame spear’ or ‘leader spear’. It would be the first thrust of battle, with a sharp projectile signalling the first drawing of blood – a sacred act according to Norse beliefs. The person given this responsibility would be named a Hrodgeir or Oddgeir.


If modern Norwegian were a guide, then the pronunciation of Oddgeir would be something like ‘Odd-gire’, to rhyme with ‘fire’. The stress would be on the first syllable, the ‘g’ would be hard rather than soft and the ‘r’ would be almost silent. So Oddgeir would sound almost like ‘odd guy’, with the stress on the first word. Hence the pronunciation of Oddgeirson would be something like ‘odd-guy-son’, again with a stress on the first syllable. It would be frequently contracted to Oddson.


Similarly, the pronunciation of Hrodgeir would be something like ‘Hrod-gire’, to rhyme with ‘fire’. Hrodgeir would sound almost like ‘Hrod guy’, with the stress on the first word.


Before modern surnames, Scandinavians had a tradition of naming their sons after the personal names of their fathers. The son Erik of a father called Oddgeir could thus become Erik Oddgeirson. Oddgeirson would be descriptive of the father, rather a surname or family name. In large areas of England, Danish or Norse were spoken as the main language until the thirteenth century (Bugge 1921), and Scandinavian customs continued for a long time.

Geoffrey M. Hodgson's Reply to Criticism

Based on my research on the geographical distribution in The Hodgson Surname (1993), I published an article on ‘Surname History: A New Technique’ in the February 1997 issue of Family Tree Magazine (Vol. 13, No. 4). I argued in the book and article that the surname distribution evidence supported the thesis that Hodgson derived from Norse forenames.


Mr Peter Christian published a critique of my argument in the June 1997 issue of the Family Tree Magazine, with a rejoinder by me. In 2001 Mr Christian placed a revised and expanded version of his critique. He followed the esteemed etymologist P. H. Reaney in arguing that Hodgson is derived from the nickname Hodge, which in turn derives from Roger.


My full reply to Mr Christian can be downloaded HERE. Some of my responses are as follows:


  • I deny Mr Christian’s charge that I ignore the evidence of surname etymologists. Etymologists give different explanations of the Hodgson surname and we must choose among them.
  • Although distributional evidence from post-1539 parish registers is not ideal for our purposes, and we lack vital evidence from earlier centuries, the distributional evidence that we have should be taken into account.
  • Mr Christian himself uses piecemeal surname distribution evidence to attempt to refute my argument, but nowhere gives the overall distributional picture any practical weight.
  • Mr Christian argues that because the derivation from Roger and Hodge is the ‘accepted view’ then we must treat it as valid. But if we must accept a consensus view as true simply because it is accepted by the consensus, then science would never be able to make any progress.
  • The Hodgson surname is much more densely concentrated in Cumbria and Lonsdale than elsewhere. Mr. Christian provides no evidence or explanation why the forenames Hodge or Roger were more common in these areas than elsewhere. By contrast, forenames such as Oddgeir and Hrodgeir would have been more frequent, because these were areas of Norse settlement, where the Norse language endured for centuries.
  • Mr Christian doubts that Oddson could evolve into Hodgson, because the addition of an ‘h’ and ‘g’ would be ‘impossible’. I point out that my fuller argument is that Hodgson evolved from Oddgeirson, which may help to explain the ‘g’. I give examples of several place names, recorded as beginning with ‘O’ in the Domesday Book, that later acquired a leading ‘H’. It is also possible that Hodgson derives from the Norse name Hrodgeir.
  • In discussing the evolution of the Hodgson surname, the existence of different languages in the North of England for several centuries, general illiteracy, and the lack of standardised spellings, all have to be taken into account.


Bibliography

Baldwin, John R. and Whyte, Ian D. (eds) (1985) The Scandinavians in Cumbria (Edinburgh: The Scottish Society for Northern Studies).

Barber, Henry (1903) British Family Names: Their Origin and Meaning, second edition (London: Elliot Stock).

Bardsley, Charles W. (1901) A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (London: Henry Frowde).

Bugge, Alexander (1921) ‘The Norse Settlements in the British Islands’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 4th Series, Vol. 4, pp. 173-210.

Campbell, Ewan (2001), 'Were the Scots Irish?' Antiquity, June, Issue 288, pp. 285-292.

Campbell, Kevin D. (2007) ‘Geographic Patterns of Haplogroup R1b in the British Isles’, Journal of Genetic Genealogy, 3, pp. 1-13, www.jogg.info/31/campbell.htm .

Cunliffe, Barry (2001) Facing the Ocean: The Atlantic and Its Peoples 8000 BC - AD 1500 (Oxford: Oxford University Press).

Falkus, Malcolm and Gillingham, John (eds) (1981) Historical Atlas of Britain (London: Grisewood and Dempsey).

Ferguson, Robert (1858) English Surnames and their Place in the Teutonic Family (London: George Routledge).

Helgason, Agnar, Sigrún Sigurðardóttir, Jayne Nicholson, Bryan Sykes, Emmeline W. Hill, Daniel G. Bradley, Vidar

Bosnes, Jeffery R. Gulcher, Ryk Ward, and Kári Stefánsson (2000) ‘Estimating Scandinavian and Gaelic Ancestry in the Male Settlers of Iceland’, American Journal of Human Genetics, 67(3), September, pp. 697-717.

Hines, John (1984) The Scandinavian Character of Anglian England in the Pre-Viking Period, British Archaeological Report 124, Oxford, pp. 277-8.

Hodgson, Geoffrey M. (1993) The Hodgson Surname: Its Norse Origin and Cumbrian Location (Standon, Hertfordshire: Martlet Books).

Hodgson, Geoffrey M. (2005, 2008) Hodgson Saga (Standon, Hertfordshire: Martlet Books).

MacLean, J. P. (1889) A History of the Clan MacLean: From its First Settlement at Duard Castle, in the Isle of Mull, to the Present Period (Cincinnati: Robert Clarke).

Moore, R. L. (ed.) (1981) The Hamlyn Historical Atlas (London: Hamlyn).

Oppenheimer, Stephen (2006) The Origins of the British (London: Robinson).

Parson, W. and White, W. (1829) History, Directory and Gazetteer of the Counties of Cumberland and Westmorland etc. (Leeds: White).Baldwin, John R. and Whyte, Ian D. (eds) (1985) The Scandinavians in Cumbria (Edinburgh: The Scottish Society for Northern Studies)

Reaney, P. H. (1958) A Dictionary of English Surnames, first edition (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul).

Simek, Rudolf (1993) Dictionary of Northern Mythology (D. S. Brewer, Cambridge).

Sykes, Bryan (2006) Blood of the Isles: Exploring the Genetic Roots of Our Tribal History (London: Bantam). Published in the USA as Saxons, Vikings, and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland (New York: Norton).

Treharne, R. F. and Fullard, Harold (eds) (1963) Muir’s Historical Atlas: Ancient and Classical, sixth edition (London: George Philip).

Wainwright, F. T. (1975) Scandinavian England: Collected Papers, ed. H. P. R. Finberg (Chichester: Phillimore).

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