The Name

Possible derivations of the name come from medieval English, which included Old French terms introduced after the Norman Conquest of 1066:

1.  A nickname - especially for someone easily plucked or taken, and thus swindled.

2.  An occupational surname for someone who hunted or bred pigeons and wood pigeons, which were once an item of food.

3.  From the a medieval nickname for Little John, "Pet(y)ion" from "pety" (middle Middle English for small, from the French "petit") and the name John or Johan.

The first known record of the family name is that of William Pigun in the "Curia Regis Rolls of Norfolk", dated 1200.  Other early examples were Ralf Pyjun in the Assize Rolls of Somerset of 1268, Relicta Pygon (1296), and Relicta Pijohan, John Petijohan and Thomas Piyion, all of Sussex in 1327.

The spelling of the name in early times had many variations:  Pegyn, Pigyn, Pygyn, Pygyon, Pygeon, Pigeon, Pidgeon, Pigin and Pigine were all used in Badsey, Worcestershire in the 15th and 16th centuries.   Other early variations found on the IGI are Pigion, Pigen, Pigon, Pygan, Peigeion, Piggen, Pyggen, Piggyn, Pyggyn. There is also some confusion with the name Piggin (see below).  However, modern spellings have been distilled down to just three variations: Pidgeon, Pigeon and Pidgen.   Anything else is most likely to be a spelling or transcription error.

The name of PIGGIN, pronounced Pig-Inn, is today a quite separate name. More can be found on the web-site of Jean-Baptiste Piggin at http://www.piggin.org/.  One section discusses the confusion between the names Pidgeon and Piggin at Badsey, Worcestershire.

The Distribution in England, Wales and Scotland

Although Pidgeons have now flown to all corners of the world, the 1881 census can be used to show where they were in Great Britain in mid-18th century.   The following list gives the number of people in the census with different variations of the name, and the maps below show where in the country they were living.   Some of the spellings are obviously spelling errors.

Surname Atlas    from    Archer Software