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ArchivesRe: origin surname Jenna
in reply to a message by alan rawdon brown
I can only think that it's a version of Jenner, an old word for an engineer.
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thank you .The year in question was 1572 would engineer still appplyand in what context
alan brown
alan brown
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Well, the surname goes back, in various forms, to the 12th century, but at that time "... ingeniator was used of men who combined the duties of master-mason and architect." (Reaney and Wilson, Dictionary of British Surnames). Same source tells us that in France the name was used for a "maker of military machines". By 1327 the spelling Jenour is on record.
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