a town in northwestern Canada in the Yukon on the Yukon River; a boom town around 1900 when gold was discovered in the Klondike
"Visitors traveled by boat up the Yukon River to visit Dawson, the historic gold rush boom town that once thrived in the Klondike region."
A patronymic surname, from given names.
"The Dawson family name is a patronymic surname derived from the given name David."
Dawson is derived from the Middle English nickname Daw, which was an affectionate shortening of David, combined with the suffix -son to mean "son of." The name entered usage as a familiar way to address someone named David before becoming a distinct surname on its own.