Atkins History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Among the the peoples of ancient Scotland, the first to use the name Atkins were the Strathclyde-Britons. Atkins was a name for someone who lived in Lanarkshire. The name and all it’s variants are double diminutives of Adam, formed from ‘Ad,’ the diminutive of Adam + ‘kin’ 1

Early Origins of the Atkins family

The surname Atkins was first found in Lanarkshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Lannraig) a former county in the central Strathclyde region of Scotland, now divided into the Council Areas of North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, and the City of Glasgow, where they originated in the old barony of Akyne. Some of the first records of the name were Atkyn de Barr in 1340 2 and later in 1405, “John of Akyne, a Scottish merchant petitioned for the return of his ship and goods illegally seized in England.” 1