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.

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