Jenkins (name)

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Jenkins
PronunciationJen-kins or Jon-kins
Origin
Word/nameEnglish, Welsh, Dutch, Danish
Meaningdiminutive of John, "Little John"
Other names
Variant forms Jenkin, Jinkins, Jenken, Jankin, Siencyn, Johnson
[1]

Jenkins is a surname that originated in Cornwall, but came to be popular in southern Wales. The name "Jenkin" originally meant "little John" or "son of John". The "kin" portion is of Dutch or Danish origin (-kijn), which then gained a certain popularity in England.

Contents

History

As a forename

John, followed by kin/ken [2] meaning "little", gave Jenkin or Jenken. [3] The first use of the name "Jenkins" or "Jenkens" in England occurred as early as 1086 as a diminutive of the English form of John. [4] [5] It was often translated (as a loan word) from Flemish or French as "John the Younger" or seen as "John Jenken", and often referred to as "Little John". Note that while the non-diminutive Jehan (in French) or Jehannes (in Flemish) were also sometimes listed as "John the Elder" in English, they were never translated as "Big John". [5]

In studying early English historical texts, confusion can arise when the father is listed as John, with two sons also named John (the elder) and John (the younger). [6] At that time, it was a direct reference to the name John in the formal and diminutive forms and not associated with birth order. Today, the term "John, Senior" is sometimes used for the father, distinguishing him from "John, Junior" or a numeric designation (e.g., "II"). [7]

As a surname

Jenkins is a surname variant of Jenkin commonly seen in Cornish and in English (mainly Devon) ancestry, also meaning "Little John" or, more literally, "John the Little". Its earliest documented occurrence was in Monmouthshire, in the Domesday Book of 1086, but it almost certainly predates the Norman Conquest. [7]

A common English use, leading to use as a surname, may have been the now-obsolete "little Johns", a 12th-century term for the Cornish (and later Welsh) people, either alluding to their comparatively small stature or, more likely, classing them as illegitimate offspring of the unpopular King John of England, who was previously the Earl of Cornwall and Gloucester. [7]

A Welsh form of the name is Siencyn. "Jenkin" or "Jenkins" and variants should not be construed as shortened forms of "Jenkinson", which denotes "the son of little John." [7] [8]

Spelling variations

Variations of the name Jenkins have included:

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Surname Map for Jenkins in Britain, Ireland and Mann". Celtic Family Maps.
  2. ↑ -kin (now archaic) diminutive form http://www.dailywritingtips.com/50-diminutive-suffixes-and-a-cute-little-prefix/ - See also: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-kin#Etymology_2
  3. ↑ Probably derived from Johannes, the Latin and Germanic rendering of the biblical name John. See Arthur, William (1857). An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names With an Essay on their Derivation and Import. New York: Sheldon, Blake, Bleeker & Co.
  4. ↑ Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press. ISBN   0-19-508137-4.
  5. 1 2 About the Jenkins' Family Name: http://www.djenkins.org/blog/?page_id=45 Archived 2009-08-05 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "John"  . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Klaus P. Schneider, Diminutives in English, Max Niemeyer Verlag 2003. ISBN   3484304790
  8. ↑ Select Jenkins Surname Genealogy - Jenkins and Siencyn http://www.selectsurnames2.com/jenkins.html
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