The Jam?son family surname is an anglicized version of the patronymic surname, meant to mean "the son of James." It is ultimately of Old Hebrew origin, and comes from the Latin 'Jacobus' deriving from the Hebrew given name 'Yaakov', meaning 'supplanter or following-after.' This is also the origin of the name Jacob. It is a surname of world wide popularity, given the universal use of the name James, in some form or another, in so many languages and cultures.

The use of surnames is a relatively recent development. They were not much at all in use in England before the invasion of William the Conqueror in 1066, when they were probably introduced by by the Normans. In Scotland surnames could be found in some cases sometime after the twelfth century, although it was not all that common. Surnames as we know them today were first assumed in Europe from the 11th until the 15th century. In all cases, surnames were not used universally in any real quantity until much later, about the fifteenth or sixteenth century, when a need to identify distinct families for the purpose of taxation and other civic uses, like census and conscriptions, became important and widespread.

It is important to note for any Jam?son research within the British Isles, where the Gaelic versions for the names James and son of James, can still sometimes be found in recorded historical records and should, in these cases, be considered as ancestral Jam?son connections. English translations of the Gaelic words MacKames or Machamish, the 'Mac' or 'Mc' prefix, meaning 'son' of 'Kames' or 'Hamish,' which in Gaelic is James, is therefore son of James, or Jameson. Alternately Maccamie, Mckkamy, MacKimmie, Macimmie and other variations meaning 'son of Jamie' were also used and are similarly Jam?son connections.

Strictly speaking, it would be true that those still using any surname meaning son of James, yet not translated into English, would also be considered a Jam?son, the surname Jacobson may be an example of one of those. However, it is generally accepted that if the name has not been anglicized (converted) in it's modern usage, it is not then usually included in Jam?son family studies such as our Jam?son collections, even thought his may handicap our understanding of our family's historical background and lineages.

One of the oldest uses of the surname Jamieson is first found in on the Isle of Bute, in Scotland, where a family named Jamieson or Neilson held the office of Crowner of Bute from the beginning of the fourteenth century, or earlier. Other early records of the use of the name Jam?son in the British Isles, include Walter Jameson, County Somerset, during the reign of Edward III (1327-1377). Jacobus Jamesson was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. Alexander Jemison was granted safe conduct into England from Scotland in 1445.

Because of it's patronymic nature, the surname Jameson developed widely without regards to a single origin. Thus, there are many totally unrelated families with this same surname. Modern genetic testing has conclusively proven this to be true. Complicating matters even more are the issues of patronymics with the name derived from the father’s forename, e.g. John Donaldson’s son might be James Johnson, whose son might be Peter Jameson, and so on. Patronymics present something of a challenge for the family historian in that the surname sometimes changed with each successive generation, in early times, further confusing origins and lineage of a family. Fortunately this practice died out in Lowland Scotland and most of England after the 15th century, as patronymic surnames became permanent family names. In some cases however, it still persisted in the Highlands & Islands well into the 18th century

Pronunciation of the name is and was most-likely intended as simply "James-son," the same as the meaning of the name. However, the surname has always been widely pronounced with three syllables, as in "Jam-eh-son" or some small variation on that. Overtime, the actual spelling of the name reflected that. In fact, the reality is there are now, in modern times, several documented instances where large numbers of people have the name spelled differently, no doubt based on the early and continued phonetic interpretation of the spoken name. Often this spelling change has taken place when official written transactions by others, most likely not family, have interrupted what they think is the spelling, based on what they think they have heard[1]. One only needs to think of how a Scotsman, especially one with a heavy Scottish brogue might sound when pronouncing his name, even to another Scotsman, to realize why there are so many different spellings of the surname. Nevertheless, the original intention, regardless of where or when, culture or country, was as "son of James", or some other close offshoot like the "son of Jamie", a nickname and less formal use of the given name James.

Here are a number of the most common examples of the different spellings of the surname: Jamason, Jameson, Jamieson, Jamison, Jamesone, Jamisone, Jameyson, Jamyson, Jamerson, Jemmyson, Jemson, Jimison, Jimmerson, Gimson, Gimmerson, etc.

However, for this website, traditional considerations are just those who use the surname (or any of it's typical spelling variations) in modern English and recognizable as such when written or spoken, are herein used as Jam?son, where their might be a possibility of any spelling considerations.

Because there are so many independent beginnings to people using the surname Jam?son, say nothing of aberrations - like adoption and other birth anomalies, it is impossible to assume connections between those using the name. Some DNA testing can help greatly with proving connections, even without knowing the path to that connection, which helps a lot. Beyond that, the task of finding Jam?son cousins is formidable, if not interesting.

Although the Jam?son surname can now be found almost anywhere in the world. Not so surprisingly is that the surname is historically found predominately in the British Islands, principally in Scotland, but also in Ireland and in England as well. Perhaps more surprisingly, is that the Jam?son name is increasingly found used as a forename, with just as many spelling variations as have confused it when used as a surname.

Go here for details on early Jameson family naming traditions and customs, or here for a detailed explanation for the Jam?son surname and it's association with Scottish clans.