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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