Hain

This interesting and unusual surname is a variant of "Hain", which itself has three possible origins. Firstly, it may be of locational origin from any of the places named from the Olde English pre 7th Century "(ge)haeg", Middle English "heghen", enclosure. "Hayne" is a popular minor placename in Devon. However, it may also derive from the Middle English personal name "Hain, Heyne", from the Germanic "Hagano", meaning awthorn, but in the Danelaw it may also derive from the Old Norse "Hagni", a Scandinavianized form of the same name. Finally, the name may have originated as a German topographical name for someone who lived by a patch of enclosed pastureland, from the Middle High German "hagen", hedge. The surname first appears in the original form in the Domesday Book (see below), while other early examples include: Peter Hain (Dorset, 1200); Adfridus Hane (Staffordshire, 1209); William le Heyne (Staffordshire, 1327); Alice Heynes (Somerset, 1327); and Margery Haynes (Essex, 1352). One John Hayne was one of the convicted Monmouth rebels who were transported to the Barbadoes, from Dorchester Jail, in 1685. A Coat of Arms granted to a family of the name at Hayne in Devon, depicts a red chevron between three black martlets on a silver shield. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ulricus Hagana, which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book of Suffolk, during the reign of King William 1, known as "William the Conqueror", 1066 - 1087. 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.