Hammond

Variations – Hammonds, FitzHamond, Hampson, Amundsen
Racial Origin – Norman French, also Scandinavian
Source – A given name

Here is another group of family names which traces back to the Teutonic given name of “Amal” or “Amala.”

The Normans brought the name into England as “Hame” and “Hamon.” It was not long, however, before the given name began to develop new forms, such as “Hamond” and “Hammond,” the latter quickly becoming more widespread. In many cases the patronymic, or family name, was formed by the prefixing of the Norman “Fitz,” meaning “son of.” In others, the surname was formed by the addition of the ending “son.” But “Hammondson” was a little too clumsy for the average British tongue, and so did not endure long, being shortened to Hammond and Hammonds.  In more modern times there has been a very general tendency to add a final “s” to such names, so that the name of Hammonds is still another lengthening from the form of Hammond.

But the given name often developed the diminutive forms, in Norman fashion, of “Hamonet” and “Hamolet” or “Hamelot” and “Hamoret” which quickly became “Hammel,” producing the surname “Hamnetson” or “Hamneson,” which has finally been twisted into the modern Hampson. Hamnet has also given us Hammet. “Hamelot” seems to have stopped at giving us Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”

The family name of Amundsen, or as we sometimes see it, Amondson and Amondsen, is nearly always traceable to a development of the Scandinavian form of this ancient given name.