Byne - Name

An interesting and unusual name of Medieval English origin Byne, or the variant spellings Bynne, Binn or Binne, is derived either from the Old English pre 7th Century 'Binna', the Middle English 'Binne', a personal name of unknown origin, or from the Old English 'binn', a manger or bin. Byne may be either a topographical name for someone who lived by an open manger, or a hollow place, or it may also be a metonymic occupational name for a maker of mangers. The following examples illustrate the name development after the first recording (see below), Missa Binne (1279, Hundred Rolls of Oxford), Robert Byn (1327, Subsidy Rolls of Sussex) and William de Bynns (1279, Assize Rolls of Somerset). Amongst the sample recordings in London are the marriages of Constance Bine and Richard Browne on July 8th 1573 at St. Lawrence, Pountney, and Thomasin Byne and Robert May on February 2nd 1627 at St. Katherine's-by-the-Tower. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Binns, which was dated 1275, Hundred Rolls of London, during the reign of King Edward 1, 'The Hammer of the Scots', 1272-1307. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.