Quick answer
Dawson is a boy name meaning "son of David".
Meaning and history
From an English surname meaning "son of David ". As a given name, it was popularized in the late 1990s by the central character on the television drama Dawson's Creek (1998-2003). In the United States the number of boys receiving the name increased tenfold between 1997 and 1999. It got another boost in 2014 after it was used for a main character in the movie The Best of Me.
Notes and context
Usage: english