Spinks
A surname that likely began as a nickname from the bird name “spink,” or as a patronymic form meaning “Spink’s son.”
The #5,881 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 52,615 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is usually explained in two close ways. One is as a genitive or patronymic form of Spink, meaning “son of Spink” or “belonging to Spink.” Another is that Spink itself came from the bird name, especially the goldfinch, from Old English and related Germanic forms meaning a finch-like bird. In either case, the surname ultimately points to a nickname based on a small bird.
History
The surname is recorded in English sources in medieval and later forms, and it appears especially in the English counties where Bardsley and other name collectors noted it. Historical writers also treat Spinks as related to Spink/Goldspink, showing that the name was understood as a bird nickname in popular usage. The plural-looking ending -s is common in English surnames formed from a father's name or a possessive nickname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Old surname dictionaries explicitly grouped Spinks with other bird-nickname surnames such as Finch and Lark.
From the historical record
“Burns, Bruar Water, 43. SPINKS, Spink's (Son). SPINNER, the M.E. spinner(e, spynner{e [f. O.E. spinnan, to spin] SPIRE, V. Spyep. SPIRES, V. Spyers. SPI RETT, a weak form (through the intermed. Spyrad: Yorks, a.d. 1379) of Spirhard, q.v. SPIRHARD (Scand.) Spear-Brave [O.N.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)