Scotland The name has several possible origins, although it is generally considered to be a variant of
Aikens, which is considered to be a patronymic form of the name
Aiken. These names are considered to be derived from the
Scots personal name
Aitken, which is a double diminutive form of the Biblical name
Adam. The name is formed in part from
Ad, the diminutive of
Adam (the
d has been sharpened to
t), and the diminutive suffix -
kin. George Fraser Black stated that the
-s in the surnames
Atkins, and
Aitkins, represents 'son'; and in consequence, that these names equate to
Atkinson. In 1946, Black noted that, according to John Paterson (in 1867), the surname
Aiken was an old name in the parish of
Ballantrae,
Ayrshire; and that "in
Orkney it is believed to have replaced the
Old Norse name Haakon and its derivative Hakonson". Black, however, noted that this story was too silly to believe. In 1908, William Cutter noted the surname
Aiken, and stated that
antiquarians have derived the name from the word
aik, meaning 'an oak', or 'oaken'. Black noted that within the
heraldry of the name
Aiken (and variations), the use oak is merely an example of
canting heraldry. The strait's name is derived from the
Scottish Gaelic Caol Acain, which means 'Haakon's Sound', or 'Haakon's Narrows'.
Ireland In Ireland, the surname
Aiken is considered to be of Scottish and English origin, Michael C. O'Laughlin states that families of the surname
Aiken (and variants:
Ekin,
Aikens,
Aikins,
Aicken,
Aitken) are mostly of Scottish and English descent. O'Laughlin states that these names originate, in most cases, to the English name
Aitken.
Edward MacLysaght also notes that the Irish surname
Aiken is the Scottish form of the English
Aitken. According to William and Mary Durning, the names
Aiken,
Akins, and
Eakin came to Ireland from Scotland during the
Ulster Plantation of the 17th century where they were transplanted to the Irish counties of
Antrim,
Monaghan, and
Down respectively. In Ireland, the surname
Aiken has also been used as an
Anglicised form of an Irish language surname. O'Laughlin, and MacLysaght, note that
Aiken as an Anglicised form of the Irish
Ó hAodhagáin (frequently Anglicised as ''O'Hagan
). The Irish Ó hAodhagáin
means "descendant of Aodhagán
". The personal name Aodhagán
is a double diminutive of the name Aodh'', which means "fire". Historically, the
O'Hagans were centred in the
County Tyrone; their
chief was seated at Tullahogue, and had the hereditary right of inaugurating
The O'Neill, as overlord of Ulster. MacLysaght notes that although the surname
Aicken is generally of Scottish origin (as diminutive of
Adam), it is also possibly an Anglicised form of the Irish
Ó h-Aogáin. ==History==