Ninnis

This interesting name is of Cornish origin and is locational from a place called Innes in Cornwall, deriving from the Cornish 'an', meaning dweller at, in this instance Innes, the 'n' becoming fused with the place name, a theory further reinforced by the prevalence of recordings in that county. During the Middle Ages, when it was becoming more common for people to migrate further afield from their villages, often to seek employment elsewhere, and they would often adopt, or be given, the placename as a means of identification, thus resulting in a wide dispersal of the name. The derivation of Innes, which is from the river Inny, is from the Welsh 'on', ashes, and the Old English pre 7th Century 'ea', a river, thus a river on whose banks ashes grew. One Ann Ninnis was christened on October 8th 1682 at Towednack, Cornwall. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alice Nynnes, which was dated September 7th 1587, Perramthnoe, Cornwall, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, 'Good Queen Bess', 1558-1603. 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.