Where the Gibson name comes from

Gibson is an English and Scots patronymic surname, and it means son of Gib. Gib was a medieval short form of Gilbert, a name derived from Giselbert or Gillebert. The Normans introduced Gilbert to England and Ireland.

In Ireland the surname can have a separate origin as an anglicized form of the Irish Gaelic Ó Gibealláin. Gibson can also be a sept of Clan Buchanan. In time it crossed back the other way, taken up as a male given name transferred from the surname.