Hinds
Usually a surname for someone connected with deer or the care of deer, though some examples may also be from place-name or nickname origins.
The #2,375 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 20,131 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally linked to the English word hind, meaning a female deer, and in some historical surname lists it is treated as a nickname or occupational name connected with hinds or deer. In older English, the word could also evoke a servant or farm worker, which may have encouraged a few different explanations in different families. The final -s may be patronymic, descriptive, or just part of the inherited surname form.
History
The name appears in English and Anglo-American records in several spellings, including Hind, Hinds, and Hindes. Some nineteenth-century writers tried to explain it as an occupational name, while others grouped it with animal-based surnames more generally. In the United States it is established but not very common, and in Britain it has long been found in several regional pockets.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 19th-century surname collector grouped Hinds with surnames derived from animals, alongside names like Hart, Hare, Sparrow, and Dolphin.
From the historical record
“cumstance of hinds inhabiting bothies' (Jamicaon). v. Boothman. SoBlh Shietda, 1.0.0; London, o, 1. o : Plymouth, (^ o, I ; Nov York, o, I, a Bootle.— Local, 'of Bootle.' (0”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances