Nelson


Select Nelson Surname Genealogy

Nelson in England is patronymic from the personal name Neil or Neal, adopted by Scandinavians in the form Njal and introduced by them in the north of England and East Anglia where they settled. 

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England.  The Nelson surname started to appear in the 14th century.  John Nelleson was recorded in the Yorkshire Wakefield rolls of 1324 and the greater number of Nelsons were to be found there later.  Nelsons were seamen out of the port of Whitby in Yorkshire in the 19th century.

There was a long-established family of Nelson clergymen at Hiborough in north Norfolk which produced Horatio Nelson, the English naval hero.  Another branch of this family resided at Holme House on the coast.

America
.  Thomas Nelson, a merchant from Cumbria, came to Virginia around 1700 and founded Yorktown. His family became one of the leading Virginia colonial families.  Son William was Governor of Virginia and his son Thomas a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
 
There are many more Nelsons in America than in England, by a factor of six to one.  Most of the American Nelsons have a Scandinavian origin, from the Swedish Nilssons or the Danish Nielsens.  The largest number of Nelsons today are in Minnesota, a state noted for its Scandinavian immigration.

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Thomas Nelson was Governor of Virginia in 1781 and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Horatio Nelson
was the famous and celebrated English naval commander, the victor at Trafalgar in 1805.
Ricky Nelson was a teen idol and second only to Elvis Presley as the most popular rock and roll artist of the late 1950's and early 1960's.
Willie Nelson is the legendary American country singer/songwriter.
Prince Rogers Nelson is more commonly known as the musical artist Prince.

Select Nelsons Today

  • 24,000 in the UK (most numerous in London)
  • 143,000 in America (most numerous in Minnesota)
  • 63,000 elsewhere (most numerous in Canada)

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For other surnames check the companion selectsurname.com site where there are to be found the history and genealogy for more than 500 surnames.

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