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Surname Etymology and Meaning of PIDGEON

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Name meanings and etymologies are often disputed. The information here is compiled from freely available sources, and no claims whatsoever are made for accuracy, either historical or etymological.

1. English: from Middle English pyion, peion ‘young bird’, ‘young pigeon’ (from Old French pijon), a metonymic occupational name for a hunter of wood pigeons or a nickname for a foolish or gullible person, since the birds were easily taken.
2. English: altered form of the nickname Pet(y)jon (see Pettyjohn).
3. Irish (County Monaghan): local form of McGuigan, from Gaelic Mac Uiginn ‘son of the Viking’.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names (2003)