Chinn
An English surname that likely began as a place-name or a nickname, with early links to Cambridgeshire.
The #5,601 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 49,709 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Chinn is most often explained as a local name, from someone who lived by a "chine"—an old word for a cleft, ravine, or steep cutting in the ground. Some older scholars also suggested it could come from a nickname connected with the chin or face, but that looks less certain. In a few medieval records it appears alongside forms such as Ching and Shinn, showing that the spelling was quite fluid.
History
The name is especially associated in older English surname studies with Cambridgeshire and nearby records. Medieval and early modern spellings vary a lot, which is typical of surnames that were written phonetically before spelling settled down. Later bearers appear in London and in English-speaking records abroad, where the surname remained fairly uncommon.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Old surname writers noted that Chinn may be related to place-names like Black Gang Chine and Shanklin Chine, where chine means a narrow ravine or cleft.
From the historical record
“There may have been confusion with Chinn, q.v. The name can hardly be the O.E. scinnifl, ' demon,' ' spectre.' , SHINNER (Eng.) Wizard, Magician [O.E. scinnere]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)