Addison

Meaning & origin●

Attested in 1 language in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Addison is also recorded as another name, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate name2.8K records spelled Addison3 spellings in the group

  Also written Áddison, Àddison

72 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Addison is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, Old English; son of Adam, man of the red earth

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• In English, John Addisone 1308 Pat (Y); Robert Addeson 1498 GildY. ‘Son of Addy.’

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• Transferred use of the surname, which originated as a patronymic derived from Addie or Adie, a medieval (and occasional modern) pet form of Adam. This is now a relatively popular given name in the United States.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, A surname transferred from the given name.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In English, son of Addie, a pet-form of Adam

  as a name·Encyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history]

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Joseph Addisonb. 1672GBEnglish essayist, poet, playwright and politician (1672–1719)
• Thomas Addisonb. 1793GB19th-century British physician and scientist
• Addison Emery Verrillb. 1839USU.S. zoologist (1839–1926)
• Addison Richardsb. 1902USAmerican actor (1902–1964)
• John Addisonb. 1920GBBritish composer (1920–1998)
• James Bakerb. 1930USnot in their usual nameAmerican lawyer and statesman (born 1930)
• Wilbur Smithb. 1933ZMnot in their usual nameSouth African novelist (1933–2021)
• Mitch McConnellb. 1942USnot in their usual nameAmerican politician and lawyer (born 1942)
• Addison Timlinb. 1991USAmerican actress
• Addison Raeb. 2000USAmerican singer and actress (born 2000)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 640 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Addison?

Our records include 869,400 bearers of Addison across 5 countries — a sample of the full distribution.

In which country does Addison have the most bearers?

Addison is most frequently recorded in the United States, where it is most often spelled addison.

What does the name Addison mean?

Recorded meaning: son of Addy; first attested John Addisone 1308 Pat (Yorkshire)