Forgotten Wolves of Wilkinaland: A New Etymology Hypothesis for the Wilkinson Surname (and Variants) in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales

The prevailing explanation that all forms of Wilk/Wilkin beginning surnames being variants of "diminutive for William" or "son of diminutive for William"-and the presumption that this is of Norman in origin-is simply not accurate.

J.C. (Max) Wilkinson presents this provocative thesis in his book, challening an etymological presumption that is seemingly ubiquitous, woefully incomplete, and arguably almost totally wrong for the vast majority of "Wilk" root surname lineages.

Instead, he submits that there are persuasive reasons rooted in mytho-history and period literature from the Anglo-Saxon and Norse traditions supporting an ethno-linguistic heritage from the Slavic Wylte/Weleti/Wilzi tribe. This tribe, assimilated into the Frisian and Danish dark age kingdoms, is ultimately the source of the "Wilk" root surnames in the British Isles and Ireland, as well as in the northern continental antecedent locations (i.e. Denmark, Frisia and Pomerania) whose migrations and invasions brought these names to England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

Join the author as he seeks to unravel the origins of his own family name and strives to provide answers for his children as well as for future generations of all families bearing "Wilk" root surnames.

Family piety and a deep knowledge of history are too often missing in 21st-century America, and we suffer as a result. I hope Max Wilkinson's explorations of his family roots, which are now woven into the rich tapestry that is the United States, inspires others to undertake similar journeys.
-George Weigel, Bestselling author of
Witness to Hope: The Biography of Pope John Paul II

[The] trail... has now been blazed.... [T]his first-rate new analysis Forgotten Wolves of Wilkinaland.... deftly leads the reader on a scientifically and historically based journey to where the name 'Wilkinson' originated ... Wilkinson traces... with amazing precision and compelling evidence back 1,500 years... journey[ing] through ancient European tribes... to Norsemen to Scotsmen, Irishmen and eventually Americans. Wilkinson wrote his book to help his children understand... their roots .... [and] he has provided us all with a unique opportunity to learn the origins of our roots and our name.
-Dave Wilkinson, author of
Those Audacious Wilkinson Brothers

J.C. (Max) Wilkinson is a father of three, Catholic Christian, a Constitutional conservative, a former U.S. Army Infantry and Engineer officer (LTC, ret.), and a combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a lay genetic and traditional genealogist and holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of South Dakota and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Iowa. He lives and works as an attorney in Virginia and West Virginia, and has done so for the last twenty-four years.