i know it can be traced back to anglo saxon.
2007-08-14 02:48:45 · 8 answers · asked by janiestephenson@btinternet.com 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Genealogy
Spinks
English: patronymic from Spink.
and
Spink
English: from Middle English spink ‘chaffinch’ (probably of imitative origin), hence a nickname bestowed on account of some fancied resemblance to the bird.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
"Chaffinch" isn't quite "Lion-Hearted", "RedBeard", "Hairy, Buffed Stud Muffin" or "Armstrong", but it is kind of interesting. It might have been made in jest, the way bald men are called "Curly"; your ancestor may have stood six and a half feet tall and been feared in 4 counties for his skill with a battle axe, so they called him "Spink" when they were drinking.
2007-08-14 03:24:49 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
As Ted Pack notes, "Spinks" is a patronymic of the Middle English* "Spink" (where a son is named after a man who had the nickname Spink). The name Spink, which imitates the song of a finch, certainly isn't Scandinavian in origin since Chaucerian or Middle English came several centuries after the Vikings' raids on England that occurred between CE 793 and 1066.
In 1891 England, individuals named Spinks** lived in Norfolk (24%), London (27%), Essex (5%), and Yorkshire (7%) while the surname Spink (with no s)*** occurred in Yorkshire (44%), Norfolk (9%), and London (13%)--all places where the descendants of Vikings might live.
------
* The Middle English period ran between 1066 to the mid to late 15th century. Most English surmames date from the late Middle-English period.
**2090 English had the surname Spinks in 1891.
***2350 English had the surname Spink in 1891.
2007-08-14 06:13:59 · answer #2 · answered by Ellie Evans-Thyme 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Jimmy don't you remember Terry Spinks an English boxer
2007-08-16 05:27:06 · answer #3 · answered by srracvuee 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The only Spinks I've ever heard of is Leon Spinks, a black boxer in the USA.
2007-08-14 03:48:39 · answer #4 · answered by ~ Floridian`` 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No,It would be hard to trace at that time I don't think there were surnames.
2007-08-17 03:43:28 · answer #5 · answered by margaret moon 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It has nothing to do with the Vikings
2007-08-14 03:08:22 · answer #6 · answered by swenson0 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have a look at the link posted below
http://www.houseofnames.com/fc.asp?sId=&s=Spinks
hope this helps.
2007-08-14 03:20:05 · answer #7 · answered by itsjustme 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not a Nordic name at all.
2007-08-14 04:52:57 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋