The surname Akins is a Scottish and Northern Irish family name
having several possible origins, although it is generally
considered to be a variant of Aikens which is assumed to be a
patronymic form of the Scottish name Aiken It is thought that these
surnames may derive from the personal name Aitken, which is the
Scots form of Atkin, a northern British variant of the English name
Adkin, which is a diminutive form of the Biblical name Adam.
Another possible derivation of the Akins surname is suggested by
H. Amanda Robb and Andrew Chesler, authors of ''The Encyclopedia of
American Family names'' who state "the name was given to those who
were from the area near Kyle Akin, a strait in Scotland named for
King Haakon IV of Norway of Norway." This place name is known in
Scottish Gaelic as ''Caol Acain'', and means "Haakon's Sound", or
"Haakon Narrows". George Fraser Black, author of ''The Surnames of
Scotland'' noted that, according to John Paterson (in 1867), the
surname ''Aiken'' was an old name in the parish of Ballantrae,
Ayrshire; and that "in Orkney it is believed to have replaced the
Old Norse name Haakon and its derivative Hakonson." Black cites the
name of Magnus Attkinsone, a tacksman of Garth in Harray in 1492,
which he states "may be a misreading of Awkinsone (= Hakon's son,
Hauquinus was the Latinized form of Hakon). According to an account
of the origin of the name given in ''The Baronage of Angus and
Mearns'' an officer "who had command of the troops who besieged the
usurper Macbeth of Scotland in Dunsinane Castle, ordered all his
soldiers to march to the attack with branches of oak taken from
Birnam Wood, near Dunkeld, and on that account got the name of
Aikman. He is said to have been the progenitor of all the Aikmans
and Aikens in Scotland." William Cutter, in his ''Genealogical and
Personal Memoirs Relating to the Families of Boston and Eastern
Massachusetts,'' states "History ascribes to this family an ancient
Scotch origin and antiquarians inform us that the surname Aikens is
derived from the word aik - an oak, or oaken - indicative of
strength and firmness. It is said too that the Aikens of Scotland
previous to the emigration to the north of Ireland were a sturdy
race, among them famous clansmen in feudal times and later when
compelled to depart into the country of the Celts because of
religious persecution they were a devout Protestant people and with
many others turned from the land of their forefathers rather than
engage in strife in defense of their religious liberties."
According to Robert A. Bell, author of ''The Book of Ulster
Surnames,'' in Ireland this surname is common only in Ulster.
"Aiken is of Scottish origin. It is the Scottish form of the
English name Atkin, which comes from Adkin, a pet form of Adam. The
name was very common in the parish of Ballantrae in Ayrshire and
many of our Aikens may stem from there. There are many variant
spellings. It was recorded as being used interchangeably with
Eakins in Belfast, Ekin in counties Derry and Donegal, Ekin in Co.
Donegal and Egan in Co. Down. Some of the Irish sept of O'Hagan may
have further anglicised their name to Aiken. In Co. Antrim, where
it is most popular, it was found to be most concentrated in the
area northwest of Ballymena in the mid-nineteenth century." Michael
C. O'Laughlin includes ''Aiken'' as a variant form of the Irish
surname ''O'hAodhagain'' (frequently Anglicised as ''O'Hagan'').
Edward MacLysaght also associates the name ''Aiken'' with that of
''O'Hagan'', saying "In Irish it is O'hAodhagain, descendant of
Aodhagan (diminutive of Aodh or Hugh). There are many variants of
the name in English such as Hegan, Aiken, etc. The sept was located
in Co. Tyrone with the seat of its chief at Tullahogue, where he
excercised the hereditary right of inaugurating O'Neill as King or
Overlord of Ulster."
According to William and Mary Durning, authors of ''The
Scotch-Irish'' the names Aiken, Akins, and Eakin came to Ireland
from Scotland during the Plantation of Ulster in the 1600's where
they were transplanted to the Irish counties of Antrim, Monaghan,
and Down respectively. In another work by the same authors,
entitled ''A Guide to Irish Roots'', they consider the name Akin
from the standpoint of an Anglicization of the Irish name O'Eakin
[O'hOgain], a family which descends from the Irish Ui Tuirtre, who
were descended from Fiach Tort, son of Colla Uais of the Oirghialla
which were comprised of the descendants of Eochaid Doimlén, son of
Cairbre Lifechair, son of Cormac mac Airt and his wife Etaine,
whose ancestry goes back another forty-nine generations in Ireland
to its earliest Gaelic founders, the Milesians.
As a surname, the first recorded appearance of its use occurs in
the year 1405 in the court records of a Scottish sea merchant named
"John of Akyne" who sought restitution for having been kidnapped by
Laurence Tuttebury of Hull, England, who pirated his ship and
goods. Other instances of its use occur in the early records of
Scotland and Ireland where the surname is seen to have undergone a
variety of transformations in spelling, accounting for the many
variant forms of the name still seen today.
Included among these early records are William Ackin, who was a
witness in the parish of Brechin in the year 1476. George Aczin
appears in Lanarkshire in 1498. John Eckin was a tenant under the
Bishop of Aberdeen in 1511. John Ackyne served as bailie of
Stirling in 1520. Robert Aykkyne was admitted to the burgess of
Aberdeen in 1529. Bessie Aiken of Leith was found guilty of
Witchcraft in 1597, narrowly escaping execution. William Ekyn was a
lessee on the Cunningham estate in Ulster in 1613. Robert Aickeene
is listed in a muster roll of the Duke of Lennox's men in Raphoe,
County Donegal, Ireland in 1630. John Aekin was a passenger to
Warwick County, Virginia, in 1645. David Akin of Aberdeen was an
early settler of Newport, Rhode Island arriving by 1662. A
Covenanter named John Aiken fought in the Battle of Bothwell Bridge
in 1679. Alexander Aiken of Glasgow was listed as a pipe-maker in
Hearth Tax rolls for 1690. Alexander Aiken of Bo'ness, West
Lothian, was among the Scots colonists who took part in the
ill-fated Darien expedition in 1699. Edward Acken, a Scots-Irish
immigrant, was among the founders of the town of Londonderry, New
Hampshire in 1720. ''The William Akins'' a brigantine cargo ship
sailing from the port of Belfast to the River Clyde ran aground on
the rocks north of the ferry at Kyleakin, Scotland, on 18 October
1872.