Chin
Usually a shortened form of a French place-name surname such as Duchene or Du Chesne, originally meaning “(by) the oak.”
The #1,279 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 11,232 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is most often explained as a reduced form of French names like Duchene or Du Chesne, from Old French chesne/chêne, meaning “oak.” In that reading, it began as a locational name for someone associated with an oak tree, an oak grove, or a place named for oaks. Some 19th-century writers also suggested a link with local English place-names or with the surname Chinbald, but the French derivation is the clearest and best attested in the older handbooks.
History
The name appears in England in medieval records in forms such as de Chine, showing that it was established early enough to be treated as a surname rather than a modern nickname. In later centuries it was sometimes simplified in spelling to Chin, with related forms such as Chinn and Chynne also recorded. In modern usage it is also found widely as an independent surname in English-speaking countries, including the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname dictionaries sometimes grouped Chin with a whole family of “oak” names, including Du Cane and Du Quesne, because all were ultimately traced to the French word for oak.
From the historical record
“CHLNINEY. Probably local. CHIN. Perhaps a diminutive of Chinbald, but more likely local. A De Cheue occurs in H.R. co. Bedford, and there is also a Le Chene. CHINBALD. An A-Sax. personal name. CHINNOCK. Three parishes in Somer- set. CHIPCPIASE. A place In Northumber-”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom