O'Sherrin

This very interesting surname has two distinct primary sources, each with its own history and derivation. Firstly, Sherrin may be of Anglo-Saxon origin, and a dialectal variant of the more familiar Sherwin, itself deriving either from the Olde English pre 7th Century male given name "Scirwine", a compound of the elements "scir", bright, illustrious, and "wine", friend, or from the Middle English "schere(n)", to shear (Olde English "sceran"), and "wind", wind; hence, a nickname for a fast runner ("shear wind"). One John Surewyne and a Robert Serewynd were recorded respectively in the 1273 Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire, and in 1524, John Sherwin was entered in the Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk. It is also possible that Sherrin is locational in origin from the parish and village of Sheering, north east of Harlow in Essex, recorded as "Sceringa" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and so called from a tribal name "Scering", a derivative of "scir, sceare", bright; however, the second most likely source of the name is the Old Gaelic (Irish) "O'Sirin", descendant of Sirin", a personal byname meaning "wild cherry", denoting someone with ruddy cheeks. The surnames "O'Sherin" and "O'Shirine" are recorded in County Cork Fiants Records, dated 1550. On July 15th 1610, Elizabeth Sherrin and Rychard Bone were married at St. Bride's, Fleet Street, London, and on July 26th 1655, the birth of Katherine Sherrin was registered at Templemore, Londonderry. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Gilbert Scerewind, which was dated 1154, in "Documents relating to the Danelaw", Lincolnshire, during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189. 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.