Mitchell

Variation – Mitchel, Mitchelson, Michaelson
Racial Origin – English
Source – A given name

This group of family names is derived from the given name of Michael, which, of course, is Hebrew, being one of the scriptural names. The meaning of the given name is “like God.”

In that period of English history when the Saxon and Norman tongues had just combined,  when Normans and Anglo-Saxons finally lost their pride in race for pride in nationality, there came about a change in the type of given names. This was no doubt due in part to the absolute necessity for new names, for population, was increasing and the same force which    had brought about the development of surnames or family names for the individual also tended to increase the number of given names.  In that period there was a general turning to the Scriptures and to scriptural history in search of names.

Naturally, Michael, the name of the archangel, was a popular one.  And from it naturally developed a surname by the addition of “son.” At this period, in the South, the linguistic tendency was toward a softening of pronunciation and the name became Mitchell, while it remained Michael in the North, just as the same word became “ditch” in the South and “dyke” in the North.  In more modern times, owing to the recorded spellings, there has been a return to the original form in the case of the name, though there has not been in the case of this word, Mitchell and Mitchel, of course, are shortened forms of Michelson.