Like a number of surnames ending in -son, Dickson began as a form of nickname, indicating that the bearer was the son of a (probably) local man called by a short or pet form of the Old French name Richard. Richard is of Germanic origin, and based on the words ric, meaning "power" or "rule" and hard, meaning "strong", "tough" or "brave." So the name translates roughly as "strong rule."
Richard, like many popular "English" names, was brought to Britain by the Normans in 1066. The short name is thought to have evolved because, in Norman French, Richard would have been pronounced with a rolled French "r", as sound the English found as difficult to pronounce then as they do now! Whether or not this is true, the name has certainly been around since the Middle Ages, which is when these early surnames, mostly based on first names or place names, developed.
Richard, like many popular "English" names, was brought to Britain by the Normans in 1066. The short name is thought to have evolved because, in Norman French, Richard would have been pronounced with a rolled French "r", as sound the English found as difficult to pronounce then as they do now! Whether or not this is true, the name has certainly been around since the Middle Ages, which is when these early surnames, mostly based on first names or place names, developed.