Surname Saturday is a regular blog post in which I will discuss the origins and geography of the surnames which appear in my own family tree.
This week's surname is BINNS.
Variants: Bins, Binnes, Binn, Binz
The surname could be:
- Topographical, to describe a person who lived in a hollow or close to a manger
- Occupational, to describe a person who made mangers or troughs
- Locational, to describe a person who lived in a farmstead or a lost village or hamlet called Binns
- Patronymic, from the Middle English given name BINNE or Old English name BYNNI
- Or, an Anglicised version of the German surname BINZ
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| Manger (Photo Link - FlickR, Angela (Blondie5000), 21 Nov 2010) |
The surname is not a common surname is predominantly from Yorkshire. In 1891, 71% of the Binns' families were residing in Yorkshire and 16% in Lancashire, with a small scattering of the others around the country.
Based on the high percentage of Binns' families in West Yorkshire it is therefore not a surprise to tell you that the Binns's in my family tree are from Cowling nr Keighley in West Yorkshire. My great, great grandmother was Grace Ellen Binns born in c1869 nr Shipley, West Yorkshire. Her father John Binns was born in nr Cowling, West Yorkshire and was a weaver, as was his own father, David Binns c1816, also from Cowling, West Yorkshire.
Information from:
I just ran across your page here. My family emigrated from cowling nr keighley in 48, post ww2. we are Binns' and my granddad came from Cowling, and his brothers (most)etc lived there until their deaths. Wish to discuss any of this, as I have a lengthy family tree contact me d_cb@hotmail.com btw am in Ontario Canada....David Binns
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