Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Emerson” come from?

Emerson is an English surname derived from a patronymic meaning "son of Emery," which comes from Proto-Germanic amal, of uncertain ultimate origin.

Ancestry of “Emerson”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-sonAdded to a stem to form a patronymic or...
2Middle English-son—
3Middle English-esAlternative form of -yssh; Alternative form of...
4Old English-espossessive marker, indicating that an object...
5Proto-Germanic-as—
6Proto-Indo-European-ēsPrimarily forms adjectival bahuvrīhi compounds
7Proto-Indo-European-ess—
8Proto-Indo-European-osCreates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...

Words derived from “Emerson”

  • Emersonian
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -os →