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Recorded as Beatson (Scottish) and Batson, Battson and Battison (English), this surname is a patronymic. It derives from the surname and personal name Batt, a nickname form of the famous name Bartholomew, introduced into Europe by returning Crusaders from their various expeditions to try to free the Holy Land from the Muslims in the 12th century. Alternatively it is just possible that some modern surnames may originate from the Olde English pre 7th century personal name "Bata". The Hebrew Bartholomew is derived from the ancient patronymic "Bartalmay", which means "having many furrows" or "rich in land", hence a wealthy farmer. It was a very popular personal name in the Middle Ages, because of the fame of St. Bartholomew, the patron saint of tanners, vintners and butlers. The Olde English "Bata" is though to derive from the word "batt", meaning cudgel, and used as a byname for a stout, thickset man. Thomas Bateson was registered in the Poll Tax records of the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1379 and John Beatisoun at Fife in 1458. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Bate de Butwick, of Lincolnshire, in the Hundred Rolls of 1273. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
Beatson Surname Meaning
The son of Bat or Baty, a diminutive of the scriptural name Bartholomew. David filius Bety was provost of Linlithgow in 1342 (ER., I, p. 491). The surname was not uncommon on the West Marches in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and in the seventeenth century a family of the name acquired lands in Fife. John Batisoun or Batysoune had a charter in 1458 of two mercates and a half of the lands of Dalbeth (Dawech) in the barony of Westir Ker for his services at the battle of Arnkenholme (1 May 1455) when the Douglases were overwhelmea (RMS., II, 632). Nicholas Batisoun had a similar grant out of the same lands for his services (ibid., 633), and Robert Batysoune also received a grant of two mark lands of Quhitscheles for similar services (ER., VI p. 557). William Beatisoun in Hawick was ordered to be exhibited before the Privy Council in 1627 as a masterless person fit for the wars (RPC., 2. ser. II. p. 35). Baitsone 1683, Beattisoun 1597, Beatisone 1653. Other forms are Batesoun, Batiesoun, Beatisoun, and Betteson; and Armstrong (Liddesdale, p. 184) gives the following plural forms: Batesonis, Batisonis. Batisons, Batsones, Batsons, Battesons, Battissons, Batysonis, Batysonnes, Batysons, Beatisons, and Beatisones. A writer in Notes and queries (13. series, I, p. 287) makes the wild suggestion”that the true derivation is from Old English Pehta, a Pict.” Battison is another current form of the name. — The Surnames of Scotland (1946) by George Fraser Black (1866-1948) This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. —the son of Beatrice,' nick. Bete; v. Beaton. Beatrice was, together with its nicks., a prime favourite in Yorkshire. The Poll Tax (1379) teems with it. Hence still largely represented; v. Beaton, Bettinson, and Betts. Walter CI. Beatricie, 1273. Hundred Rolls. Richard Beatriceson, Close Rolls, 11 Edward II. Iabelle fil. Willelmi Beteson, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire. Richard Beteson, 1494, Yorkshire: Corpus Christi Guild (Surtees Society). These two last entries agree with Promptorium Parvulorum supra; v. Beaton. 1718. Married — William Grant and Elizabeth Beatson: St. Mary Aldermary.