Dison History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
France
Scotland

The generations and branches of the Dison family share a name that has its roots in the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. The name Dison comes from the medieval personal name Dennis. Dison is a metronymic surname, which belongs to the category of hereditary surnames. In this case, the surname comes from the first name of the mother, or of another female ancestor of the bearer. It was common for second sons to take the name of their mother as a surname in the Middle Ages. In general, where patronymic surnames were used, the first son adopted the given name of his father as a surname. This type of surname is the most common form of hereditary surname. The earliest origins of this family were found in the county of Worcestershire, where they had been settled prior to the Norman Conquest, in 1066.

Early Origins of the Dison family

The surname Dison was first found in London where Richard Dysun was listed in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1274. Later, Ralph Dyson was listed in the Subsidy Rolls for Sussex in 1296 and John Dysone was found in the Subsidy Rolls for Worcestershire in 1327. John Dyesson was a Freeman of York in 1387. John, son of Dionysia de Langside is also called John Dyson de Langside in 1369. 1

"Dy or Dye, whence the patronymic Dyson. Almost all our Dysons hail from Yorkshire, where the font-name had a popularity second only to those of Matilda and Isabel. " 2

The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 include: Johannes Dison; Johannes Dison; and Dionisia uxor Thome Dison. 2

"Dyson is a name now numerous in the Huddersfield district [of West Yorkshire]. It was well established in the parish of Ecclesfield during the reign of Elizabeth I." 3

Early History of the Dison family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dison research. Another 92 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1387, 1688, 1722, 1742, 1776, 1788, 1808, 1812, 1816, 1836 and 1860 are included under the topic Early Dison History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dison Spelling Variations

Until quite recently, the English language has lacked a definite system of spelling rules. Consequently, Anglo-Saxon surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. Changes in Anglo-Saxon names were influenced by the evolution of the English language, as it incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other languages. Although Medieval scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded, so it is common to find one person referred to by several different spellings of his surname, even the most literate people varied the spelling of their own names. Variations of the name Dison include Dyson, Dison, Disson, Dysson and others.

Early Notables of the Dison family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Jeremiah Dyson (1722-1776), English civil servant and politician who has been tersely described as ‘by birth a tailor, by education a dissenter, and from interest or vanity in his earlier years a republican.’ His father, whether a tailor or not, left considerable means to his son, who, it is established by many witnesses, professed in early life the extremist principles of Whiggism. For two years he studied at the university of Edinburgh, and ‘Jupiter’ Carlyle bears testimony to his ‘perfect idea of the constitution of the church of Scotland, and the nature and...
Another 280 words (20 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Dison Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dison Ranking

In the United States, the name Dison is the 14,652^nd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 4

Dison migration to the United States +

Searching for a better life, many English families migrated to British colonies. Unfortunately, the majority of them traveled under extremely harsh conditions: overcrowding on the ships caused the majority of the immigrants to arrive diseased, famished, and destitute from the long journey across the ocean. For those families that arrived safely, modest prosperity was attainable, and many went on to make invaluable contributions to the development of the cultures of the new colonies. Research into the origins of individual families in North America revealed records of the immigration of a number of people bearing the name Dison or a variant listed above:

Dison Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Thomas Dison, who arrived in Virginia in 1652 5

Dison Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Eliza Dison, who arrived in Virginia in 1701 5
Philip Dison, who landed in Norfolk, Va in 1747 5

Citations +

Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)