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Re: Surname BINSKIN
in reply to a message by Marc
Heather, the closest surname I could find that has "Von" in front is the surname Von Benken, perhaps the one your grandmother mentioned. Von Benken is only found in the US seemingly and quite rare, but the surname "Benken" without the "Von" is a German surname. There are also places in Switzerland named Benken, meaning Benken is a habitational name. If what you say is true, then this surname Binskin/Benskin may have originated in Germany, as the form Benken is found in Germany, perhaps from a habitational name instead from the personal name Benne/Benedict. While doing more research, I may have found something more interesting. A variant surname I have found is the German surname Beneken. This surname Beneken is also found in the Netherlands. Both of the names Benken and Beneken are mostly found West Germany close by to the borders of the Netherlands. The Interesting part is that perhaps Benken/Beneken may be variants of the Dutch surname Binken, mostly found in the Netherlands. You said that the name originated from Europe, and I think It is most likely of Dutch origin, or perhaps Flemish. The reason why I say Flemish is because of the possibility of it being a variant of Beneden, also known as Van Beneden, a Flemish surname. Both Flanders and the Netherlands are close by to the land of Kent, and there were many Flemish and Dutch settlers that came to Kent during the Middle Ages. Van Beneden in the form of Benskin/Binskin may seem highly unlikely though, so perhaps it is of Dutch origin, from the surname Binken. To conclude, I don't think the surname Benskin/Binskin is a pet form of Benne, but perhaps a habitational name or others, being ultimately of Dutch, German, or Flemish in origin. Perhaps I'll look more into this interesting surname some time later.

This message was edited 10/12/2012, 8:08 PM

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Thank you very much for the information you have posted re my enquiry about the surname BINSKIN. I now have other avenues to pursue that may give me answers to the families origins.
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I have found variants out there that do not have the "n", as in the surname Beskin and Biskin. This surname is also found in Germany, also as the form Besken. I'm not sure if the Irish surname Baskin has any relationship with this surname Binskin? Perhaps not, but it is closely spelt to Beskin.
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http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.benskin/40/mb.ashx , Alright, so there are some Benskins in U.S that are from Germany, although the English surname Benskin goes way back centuries ago in England. Hmm... This is definitely a puzzling surname.You can go here for more information
for the surname Benskin - http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.benskin/mb.ashxfor the surname Binskin - http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.binskin/mb.ashx

This message was edited 11/2/2012, 3:36 PM

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I now see why Benskin/Binskin could have derived from the personal name Benjamin. I've found similar surnames including Simkin, Tomkin, Tonkin, Rankin, and Ruskin, and all are common English surnames deriving from personal names according to the "Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press". It is because of the diminutive suffix -kin that is added in the end, meaning "close relative". I've also found rare surnames like Anderkin, seemingly to derive from "Andrew". If so, then the English surname Benskin/Binskin could derive from a personal name, but the German Benskin/Binskin, maybe not. Another theory is perhaps the German Benskin/Binskin are also of the same derivative and that the name is found in other countries. When I looked at the Wiktionary, it says, "From Middle English -kin, -ken, probably from Middle Dutch -ken, apparently representing West Germanic *-kīn, from Proto-Germanic *-ukīnan". This could explain the German Benskin/Binskin, as the surname derived from Benjamin, same as the English. What puzzles me is that the form Benkin/Binkin is hardly found in England, much rarer than Benskin/Binskin, if the name would have derived from personal name Ben.

This message was edited 11/9/2012, 3:49 PM

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