"Olin" is not an uncommon first name in the US South; anyone know why?

Question

or where it might trace back to?

maybe it's just not uncommon in my family i suppose...

Answer 1

Wendy's Saturday Unscientific survey...
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/Fact.aspx?&fid=7&ln=olin&fn=&yr=1840
For starters... in 1840, notice that the use of it as a last name is clustered to Northern states.
Rootsweb files show 25,631 of it as a last name but 8220 as a first name. I do know that using mom's maiden name as a given name for children is a very common practice.
And using ancestry's facts on same page as above, Sweden is the front runner with 45 immigrants, Norway comes close behind. That's for immigrants who came through New York and show up on passenger lists. Not definitive, but they also claim it is derived from Swedish Ohlin.
Nothin good on tv and I don't feel like housework. The standard disclaimer, of course, applies with a smile... have you traced your ancestor of that name back? North or South, it can be an important clue to an ancestral name, if used as a first name. Suspect it MAY lead to a female's maiden name.

Answer 2

I knew one person whose ancestors were Irish and they were Linns. This was a surname. Sometimes given names come from surnames.

There is a ballad. .

Brian O'Linn was a gentleman born
His hair it was long and his beard unshorn.
His teeth were out and his eyes far in
I'm a wonderful beauty, says Brian O'Linn

Brian O'Linn was in need of a coat
He borrowed a skin from a neighboring goat.
He buckled the horns right under his chin
They'll take them for pistols said Brian O'Lin

Brian O'Lin had no breeches to wear
He bought him a sheepskin to make him a pair
With the fleshy side out and the wooly side in
They are pleasant and warm said Brian O'Lin.

Brian o"Linn had no shirt for his back
He went to a neighbor and borrowed a sack.
He tuckered a meal bag under hin chin.
They'll take it for ruffles said Brian O'Lin

Brian O'Lin was in want of a brooch
He stuck a brass pin in a big cockroach
The breast of his shirt, he stuck it straight in
They'll tink it's a diamond said Brian O'Lin.

Brian O'Lin had no shoes atall
He bought him a pair at a cobbler's stall
The uppers were broke and the souls were worn thin
They'll do me for dancin said Brian O'Lin


Brian O'Lin went to courtin one night
He set both the daughter and mother to fight
Stop! Stop! he exclaimed if you have but a tin
I'll marry you both said Brian O'Lin

Brian O'Lin went to take his wife home.
He had but one horse that was all skin and bones.
I'll put her behind me as nate as a pin
and her mother before me said Brian O'Lin.

Brian O'Lin and his wife and wife' mother
They all passed over the bridge together
The bridge broke down and they all tumbled in.
Will go home by water said Brian O'Lin

However like a lot of Irish ballads,, the words can vary some with different renditions.

Some have him ending, There's land down there said Brian O'Lin

Answer 3

I am from the South, and I have never heard of that name, first or last.

Answer 4

I am from the US South and I have never heard of it. ...sorry