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[Facts] Re: Origin of the name Boykin
-kin as "descendant of" is possible, if we are talking of Slavic-based surnames, also Jewish names formed similarly. We must find then a Jewish name Boyka ~ Beyka ~Baika etc? Does it exist?
More probably, in historical English, -kin was a nickname ending, as one can present Hopkin < Hop < Hob < Robert or Tanakin, an absolutely obsolete form of Anna.
Boy may be just a boy, an old Frisian name of similar spelling like English.
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Beylka, Bailka and Paika exist.
The first two are a pet form of Beila / Baila (Yiddish forms of Bella), and Paika is a Yiddish pet form of Puah. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=593&letter=P&search=puahI also found Boyez & Boyas, Yiddish forms of Boaz, and Boym, a (weird) form of Bunim (Yiddish male name, from the French "bon homme", "good man").
~~ Claire ~~
My ! are Alia, Eidel, Enola, Israel, Dudel, Yuri, Lina, Lorelei, Leilani, Owen, Julian, Glorinda, Mirinda
My ? are Hillel, Meshullam, Johnny, Ginny, Cordelia, Fiammetta, Yocheved
My ~ are Tehila, Tilda, Hailey, Gillian, Huldah
My / are Aglaia and July

This message was edited 8/23/2005, 6:42 AM

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Well, Boyka was found, although in uncorrect spelling for a Slavic name. Bulgarian surname, similar in sound, can be Bojkov.
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What is the rationality of the last name Boykin? My aunt told me we are of Welsh descent. Would she be correct? Or is she guessing?
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The same as the first name, "English: from a pet form of the Middle English personal name Boye" Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press. As for Boye itself: "English, North German, Dutch, Frisian, and Danish: from a Germanic personal name, Boio or Bogo, of uncertain origin. It may represent a variant of Bothe, with the regular Low German loss of the dental between vowels, but a cognate name appears to have existed in Old English (see Boyce), where this feature does not occur. Boje is still in use as a personal name in Friesland.…Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University PressThe Welsh ancestry is neither here no there. Welsh was suppressed for many years, so it's not unusual to see Welsh people with English surnames. Despite it's Saxon origins, the highest concentrations outside London of Boye families were in Cumberland, Devon and Gloucestershire.
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