Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Ferguson” come from?

Ferguson is the English patronymic surname derived from Scottish Gaelic Fearghas, which comes from Old Irish Fergus, itself composed of Old Irish fer meaning "man" from Proto-Celtic wiros, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European wer- and weyh₁-.

Ancestry of “Ferguson”, 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 “Ferguson”

  • Fergusonian
  • fergusonite
  • ファーガソン
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -os →