Dawson

A somewhat self-centred request some might say, but a request it was and honour it I shall, so here goes with Stephen Dawson's request for me to discuss his own surname. Meanings seem a sensible place to start and unfortunately Dawson doesn't have the most exciting of origins, meaning son of David whether it is a first name or a surname. Dawe used to be a nickname for David in the 12th century and by the 14th century had become a surname. Some anti-Dave campaigners claim that this is rubbish and that Dawson is a corruption of the French surname D'Ossone which originates from Ossone in Normandy, but this theory seems to be scorned by those in the surname know. 

  Dawson as a first name has never been particularly popular in England, but since the first airing of that painful vomit-inducing programme Dawson's Creek, it has risen up the American baby-name charts rapidly. The show started in 1998 and the following year Dawson leapt from 734th to 175th before hitting an all-time high at 136th in 2000. It's been on a steady decline ever since, but still sits at 285th. Amongst those surveyed 69% of Dawsons like their name and 57% would advise prospective parents to consider it for their child. A quarter of Dawsons are occasionally bullied because of their name while 7% claim to receive constant name-related jibes, the most popular being, "Hey Dawson, where's your creek?", but the majority of Dawsons seem to be able to avoid this cruelty unlike Dicks, 96% of whom are victims of harsh tongues. While checking out these stats I wondered what effect my own choice of child names would have on my children: 70% of Jarvises love their name and 39% are teased because of it while 44% of Neds love their name and a whopping 79% are teased... hmm.

  Returning to Dawson, I shall conclude with the twenty-five Dawsons who held the most prominence in the Google hierarchy:

1. Michael Dawson: Tottenham Hotspurs centre-back called up to Fabio Capello's 30-man England squad for this summer's World Cup.

2. Dawson Leery: protagonist of American drama Dawson's Creek played by James Van Der Beek.

3. Shane Dawson: Youtube comedian and actor whose online channel is the third most subscribed of all time.

4. Jill Dawson: novelist, poet and journalist.

5. Alexander Dawson: owner of an estate agents in the West Midlands.

6. Rosario Dawson: Hollywood actress whose most famous role was in Sin City.

7. Trevor Dawson: commercial property consultant in the North West.

8. Lynne Dawson: classical singer who features on the soundtrack of The Queen (that film with Helen Mirren).

9. Andrew Dawson: another estate agent; this one's in Cheadle.

10. Stef Dawson: a bloke who has a website dedicated to random things and proclaims himself a "weirdo". 

11. Ben Dawson: a manufacturer of specialist furniture for offices.

12. Dr Angus Dawson: senior lecturer at Keele University who lectures on Medical Ethics and Law.

13. James Dawson: a technological bloke who specialises in hoses for the commercial diesel engine market.

14. Les Dawson (pictured): comedian who presented Blankety Blank and was able to screw his face up into peculiar shapes.

15. Lucy Dawson: author of books that I don't think I'll ever read.

16. John Dawson: a researcher into the innovation of retailing.

17. Graham Dawson: a solicitor.

18. Robert Dawson: an ex-headteacher turned children's author; he's fond of writing about gypsies.

19. Donna Dawson: a psychologist specialising in personality and behaviour.

20. Andrew Dawson: hand model.

21. Ian Dawson: artist who makes piles of colourful paper look nice.

22. Paul Dawson: wedding photographer.

23. Barry Dawson: also a wedding photographer.

24. Jacklyn Dawson: another solicitor.

25. Stan Dawson: reclaimer of timber and steel.

I was hoping that my friend Stephen Dawson would appear somewhere but, alas, like former rugby player, Strictly Come Dancing contestant and Question of Sport captain Matt Dawson, he was not to be found.