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Davidson Family History

Davidson Surname Meaning

Scottish northern English and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the personal name David + -son. As a Jewish name the last element comes from German Sohn ‘son’.

Irish (Down) and Scottish: adopted for Gaelic Mac Daibhéid ‘son of David’; see McDevitt.

Americanized form (and a rare Swedish variant) of Swedish Davidsson: patronymic from the personal name David.

Americanized form of Norwegian, Danish, and North German Davidsen, a cognate of 3 above.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022


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Where is the Davidson family from?

You can see how Davidson families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Davidson family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Davidson families were found in USA in 1880. In 1840 there were 194 Davidson families living in Ohio. This was about 13% of all the recorded Davidson's in USA. Ohio had the highest population of Davidson families in 1840.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Davidson surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.
  • 1840
  • 1880
  • 1920
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What did your Davidson ancestors do for a living?

In 1940, Farmer and Teacher were the top reported jobs for men and women in the USA named Davidson. 14% of Davidson men worked as a Farmer and 8% of Davidson women worked as a Teacher. Some less common occupations for Americans named Davidson were Carpenter and Housekeeper.

View Census Data for Davidson | Data not to scale

*We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

Top Male Occupations In 1940

  • Farmer
    14%
  • Laborer
    13%
  • Salesman
    6%
  • Carpenter
    3%

Top Female Occupations In 1940

  • Teacher
    8%
  • Housewife
    6%
  • Stenographer
    6%
  • Housekeeper
    6%

What Davidson family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 928,000 census records available for the last name Davidson. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Davidson census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search US census records for Davidson

Passenger Lists

There are 155,000 immigration records available for the last name Davidson. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in the USA, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

View all Davidson immigration records

Draft Cards

There are 141,000 military records available for the last name Davidson. For the veterans among your Davidson ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

View all Davidson military records

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