I found the following post somewhere online, but can't find who made the post. Does anyone have the email address for this lady? Hello to every Collins out there! I have been tracing my Family Tree and have got back to 1414! I live in England and still only live a couple of miles away from were my Ancestors were at this time! The meaning of our surname Collins literally means 'Son of Nicholas', originally it would have been Nicholason, then Colason, Colynson, Colinson, Collaines, and then eventually Collins! (all names I have found within my own family tree) The origin is Viking! - Danish Viking to be exact and then of course becoming English, which is very apt for me because I live in the shire given to the Vikings back in the 900's which they called the Danelaw and this area, including my village is Viking! There is still a high concentration of Collins' in Devon (the south of England). Back in the 1700's the Devonshire Miners were encouraged to go to Ireland to mine, hence the name becoming widespread in that area. Although there was a clan called the O'Coilleain who Anglicized their original name and turned it into Collins. Hope this has been of some help and interest!