Anderson

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ORIGIN AND HISTORY

Anderson is often a surname with Scottish and northern English origins and a "common patronymic from the personal name Ander(s)." Anderson is also a northern Middle English form of Andrew and Andreas. Anderson's strong roots in Scotland are in part due to the long and loyal biblical patronage of St. Andrew. Due to the length of time these etymological connections to Anderson, Anders, Andrew and related names exist, the name is well-rooted and popular. The surname came to North America, and specifically the United States, during the 18th Century by Scotch-Irish immigrants to Pennsylvania and Virginia. "In the United States, it has absorbed many cognate or like-sounding names in other European languages, notably Swedish Andersson, Norwegian and Danish Andersen, but also Ukrainian Andreychyn, Hungarian Andrásfi, etc."^[1]

POPULARITY

According to the Social Security Administration, Anderson is currently the most popular the name has been in 100 years. During the first two decades of the last century, Anderson was ranked in the top 300 to 500 most popular names in the United States (out of 1000). After sliding into the 600 to 700 range from the 1940s through the 1950s, Anderson vanished altogether during much of the 1970s. After barely recovering in the 1980s, Anderson experienced a steady increase in popularity after 2000. The past few years specifically (see chart below) have shown it to increase between 50 and 100 spaces in the ranking per year.

Social Security Administration

FACTS

• Scotland has long had an affiliation with St. Andrew (Anderson). "Legend has it that the saint’s relics were taken to Scotland in the 4th century by a certain St. Regulus." ^[1]

NAMESAKES

• Anderson is a city in central Indiana with a population (2000) of 64,695.
• Anderson is a city in NW South Carolina with a population of 27,313.
• Anderson is a river in the Northwest Territories in Northern Canada flowing to the Beaufort Sea. It is 465 miles (748 km) long.^[1]

FAMOUS PERSONS

• Anderson Cooper (b. 1967) is an American television newscaster and reporter best known for his affiliation with CNN. He is the primary anchor of "Anderson Cooper 360." His mother is heiress Gloria Vanderbilt.
• Clive Anderson (b. 1952) is a former barrister and now a British comedy writer and television presenter. ^[1]
• Clayton Conrad Anderson (b. 1955) is an American NASA astronaut ^[1]
• Ora E. Anderson was a journalist, naturalist and author^[1]

Author: Mike Szimanski

NOTES