Linkie

This unusual name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a variant form of the more familiar topographical surname 'Linch' or 'Link'. The name was given originally to someone who lived on or by a slope or a hillside, derived from the Old English pre 7th Century 'hlinc', slope, hill(side). Topographical surnames were among the earliest created, since both natural and man-made features in the landscape provided easily recognisable distinguishing names for members of the small communities of medieval England. The surname development includes Gilbert de la Lynche (1275, Worcestershire), Robert Lincke (1279, Cambridgeshire) and Simon atte Lynke (1296, Sussex). The last two examples are early forms of the modern surname Linkie or Linkey, since both Old and Middle English were inflected languages, and Linkie is the modern phonetic spelling of 'Linke'. This form is found frequently in Scotland and Northern England. The marriage of William Linkie and Matilda Grant was recorded at Duddington, in Midlothian on June 3rd 1844. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Geoffrey Linch, which was dated 1228, The Suffolk Feet of Fines, during the reign of King Henry 111, 'The Frenchman', 1216-1272. 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.