Henighan

ecorded in several forms including Hain, Hayne, Hayen, Heyne, and Heynes, this is usually an English surname. It has however at least three possible origins. Firstly, it may be of locational origin from the Olde English pre 7th century word "gehaeg", meaning an enclosure or farm, with several places called Hayne being a placename in Devon. Secondly it may derive from the Middle English personal name Hain from the Germanic "Hagano", meaning hawthorn, although in the later 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. This is from the Middle High German word "hagen", meaning a hedge. The surname first appears in the original form in the famous 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 Hayens (Essex, 1352). One John Hayne was one of the convicted Monmouth rebels who were transported to the Barbadoes, from Dorchester Jail, in 1685. 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.