Surname Hodgkin - Meaning and Origin

Hodgkin: What does the surname Hodgkin mean?

The surname Hodgkin is of English origin and it essentially means "son of Hodge." The name Hodge is a diminutive or pet form of the personal name Roger or Rolf, deriving from the old English name, Hroðgar, which translates to "renown-spear" or "fame-spear" in ancient Germanic. Its prevalence in England can be traced back to medieval times, making it an old surname with history rooted in English tradition. Therefore, the surname Hodgkin typically represented familial relationships in older periods of English history, more specifically identifying an individual as "Hodge's kin". It is interesting to note that the name has connections to medical history as well, as the term "Hodgkin's disease", a type of lymphoma, is named after the British physician Thomas Hodgkin who first described it.

Hodgkin: Where does the name Hodgkin come from?

The last name Hodgkin is of English origin. It is a patronymic name derived from the popular medieval personal name "Hodge," a nickname for Roger. The suffix "kin" indicates son or descendant. The name Hodgkin thus translates to "son of Hodge." It came into existence in England around the 14th century, with some of the oldest recordings of this surname found in Yorkshire.

Today, the surname Hodgkin remains common in its country of origin, England. It is particularly prevalent in the northern and central regions of the country. It is also found in the United States, Australia, and Canada due to the migration of English populations over the course of history. Despite this, it is not a frequently encountered surname globally. The surname Hodgkin gained international recognition mainly due to identified luminaries in various fields like Thomas Hodgkin, a British physician who discovered Hodgkin's disease, and Dorothy Hodgkin, a British chemist who won the Nobel Prize.

Variations of the surname Hodgkin

The surname Hodgkin is of Anglo-Saxon origin and it has several alternative spellings and variants. It is believed to have been derived from the ancient personal name Roger, which has been modified over the centuries in different regions and times. The variant spellings include Hodgkins, Hodkin, Hodkins, Hodgkiss, Hodgetts, Hodson, and Hodgson.

Hodgkison, Hodgkinson, Hodkinson, etc. are prolonged versions of the same surname, where -son and -kin are suffixes of affection meaning 'son of'. These versions are typically found in the northern counties of England.

As for surnames from the same origin, Roger and its derivatives like Rogers, Rodger, Rodgers, Hodge, and Hodges can be considered. These are all originating from the same root but have been transformed differently in different contexts.

Each of these variants may have been affected individually due to factors such as regional accents, literacy level of the record keeper, and dialect changes.

In conclusion, the basic stem of Hodgkin has many variants due to different factors like geographical location, historical context and personal interpretation.

Famous people with the name Hodgkin

• Thomas Hodgkin: 18th century English physician and pathologist who was a pioneer in preventive medicine.
• Dorothy Hodgkin: British chemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1995 for her pioneering work in determining the structure of proteins using X-ray crystallography.
• Alan Lloyd Hodgkin: English electrophysiologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1963 for his work on nerve cell processing.
• Louisa Hodgkin: British scholar who was the first person to be awarded a degree from the University of London.
• Ralph Hodgson: English poet and playwright who is remembered for his poem, “The Cow”.
• Alison Hodgkin: Australian primatologist and evolutionary biologist whose work on primate behavior helped to advance the study of evolutionary anthropology.
• John Hodgkin: British scholar and Anglican cleric who was a major figure in the founding of University College London.
• Jonathan Hodgkin: English physician and geneticist best known for his work on Human Herpesvirus-6.
• Barbara Hodgkin: British painter and printmaker known for her works based on the poetry of John Donne and John Keats.
• Samuel Hodgkin: 19th century English agriculturalist who developed a new strain of wheat, known as the "Hodgkin Wheat".

Other surnames

HodgkinesHodgkinsHodgkinsonHodgkisHodgkissHodgkisse