SHARON ANDERSON

From a biblical place name. The derivation is from the phrase ‘I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys’ (Song of Solomon 2:1). The plant name ‘rose of Sharon’ is used for a shrub of the genus Hypericum, with yellow flowers, and for a species of hibiscus, with purple flowers. Sharon is recorded in the United States from the 18th century, as a name of both boys and girls. Since the 20th century, however, it has been used predominantly if not exclusively for girls.

Scottish and northern English: very common patronymic from the personal name Ander(s), a northern Middle English form of Andrew. See also Andreas. The frequency of the surname in Scotland is attributable, at least in part, to the fact that St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, so the personal name has long enjoyed great popularity there. Legend has it that the saint's relics were taken to Scotland in the 4th century by a certain St. Regulus. The surname was brought independently to North America by many different bearers and was particularly common among 18th-century Scotch-Irish settlers in PA and VA. In the United States, it has absorbed many cognate or likesounding names in other European languages, notably Swedish Andersson, Norwegian and Danish Andersen, but also Ukrainian Andreychyn, Hungarian Andrásfi, etc.