This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Lawson Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/XeB.2ACE/3248.1.2.1.2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1 Message Board Post: Clinton could be a nickname for McClellan/McClennan. We know that Clen was sometimes used in its place, and Clinton sounds much like it. My guess is that since there were no birth certificates, the name that someone used as a child tended to become the census name.