Gilkinson Family History

Probably a variant of Gilkison with intrusive -n-. Gilkison, also spelled Gilkerson, may have been re-formed as Gilkinson by a false analogy with northern surnames like Wilke(r)son, a reduced form of Wilkinson. Possibly an English patronymic 'son of Gilkin'.

With a hard pronunciation of initial G-, the personal name might be a pet form of Gilbert. With a soft pronunciation of initial G-, it would be a borrowing into Middle English of Gilquin, the French version of Middle Dutch Gilkin (as in the 1296 citation), which was the common Flemish pet form of Giles.

Many Flemings settled in England after the Norman Conquest. It may have given rise to the now-lost surnames Gilkin and Gilkins, as in Richard Gylekyn, 1317–18 in Feet of Fines (Surrey); Richard Gylkyns, 1332 in Subsidy Rolls (Worcs).

Compare Gill. Alternatively, the English surname (if it has a soft G-) might be based on a pet form of the Middle English female personal name Gillian. Compare Gill.