Hine
An old occupational surname meaning “farm laborer” or “ploughman,” closely related to Hind.
The #8,770 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 82,596 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Hine is generally explained as the same surname as Hind, from an old English word for a farm servant, laborer, or ploughman. The name ultimately goes back to Old English and medieval usage for an agricultural worker in a household or on an estate. Some 19th-century writers treated Hine as a more original or correct spelling than Hind, though in practice the two forms overlap.
History
The surname appears in medieval records in forms such as Le Hine, showing use with the French article after the Norman Conquest. It has long been associated with rural English regions, especially in places where occupational surnames were common. Later spelling variation produced forms like Hind and Hine, which were often used interchangeably.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In older English, a "hine" was not a deer’s calf but a farm servant—a meaning that still shows through in this surname.
From the historical record
“bailiff. See Hind. HINE. The same as Hind, and a more correct spelling of that word. The form in H.R. is Le Hine. HINKLEY. See Hinckley. HINKS. Properly Henks, from Hemy ; so Jenks from John, and Wilks from Wil- liam. See however Hiucks. HINKS:\IAN. HINXMAN. Corrtiptions of Henchman.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom