Jenkins (surname)
Jenkins |
Family name |
Pronunciation |
Jen-kins & Jon-kins |
Meaning |
diminutive of John with Dutch (Flemish) influence becoming "Little John" |
Related names |
Jenkin, Jenken, Jankin, Siencyn |
Footnotes: [1] |
Jenkins is a surname that originated in Cornwall, England, but came to be popular in southern Wales. The name "Jenkin" originally meant "little John" or "son of John". The "kin" portion is of Dutch origin (-kijn), which then gained a certain popularity in England.
History
As a forename
Jen/Jean (pronounced "Jon") is a diminutive of Jehan/Jehannes (John/Johan) followed by kin/ken meaning 'little', giving Jenkin or Jenken.[2] The first use of the name "Jenkins" or "Jenkens" in England occurred as early as 1086 as a diminutive of the English form of John.[3][4] It was often translated from the Flemish/French as "John the younger" or seen as "John Jenken." The non-diminutive Jehan/Jehannes (pronounced "Jo-han/Jon-han-es") was also translated into English as John. When Jen/Jean is present, usually given to a younger child, Jehan/Jehannes is listed as "John the elder" but never translated as "Big John."
Confusion can arise when the sire is listed as John, a son is John (the elder) and another son is John (the younger). The term "John, Senior" is then sometimes used for the father, distinguishing him from "John, Junior" or a numeric designation (e.g., "II"). "Jon" the phonetic of John is sometimes seen but only in males as is the diminutive nickname of "Johnny." The French male name "Jean", formerly pronounced "Jon", has not been common in English usage since the 16th century.
As a surname
Jenkins is a surname variant of Jenkin commonly seen in Cornish and in English (mainly Devon) ancestry. Its translation is "Little John" or, more literally, "John the little." Its earliest documented occurrence was in Monmouthshire, in the Domesday Book of 1086, but it almost certainly predates the Norman Conquest.
A common English use, leading to use as a surname, may have been the now-obsolete "little Johns", a 12th-century term for the Cornish (and later Welsh) people, either alluding to their comparatively small stature or, more likely, classing them as illegitimate offspring of the unpopular King John of England, who was previously the Earl of Cornwall and Gloucester.
A Welsh form of the name is Siencyn. "Jenkin" or "Jenkins" and variants should not be construed as shortened forms of "Jenkinson", which denotes "the son of little John."
Spelling variations
Variations of the name Jenkins have included:
- Jenkins
- Jenkin
- Jankins
- Jenkynn
- Jenkynns
- Jenkyns
- Jinkines
- Jinkins
- Jenkens
- Jenniskens
- Junkin
- Junkins
- Siencyn – a Welsh variation – John is sometimes spelled Zhahn, Sion and Sien.
- Shinkwinn – an Irish variation.
People
Notable people whose family name is or was Jenkins include
- Richard Burton (1925–1984), Welsh celebrity actor whose birth name was Richard Walter Jenkins
- Albert Jenkins (rugby player), Welsh international rugby union player
- Albert G. Jenkins (1830–1864), American politician and Confederate soldier
- Brian Jenkins (politician) (born 1942), British politician
- Brian Michael Jenkins, American terrorism expert
- Carlos Jenkins, American footballer
- Carter Jenkins (born 1991), American actor
- Charles Jenkins (basketball) (born 1989), American basketball player
- Charles Jenkins Sr. (born 1934), U.S. sprinter
- Charles Jenkins Jr. (born 1964), U.S. sprinter
- Charles Francis Jenkins (1867–1934), U.S. cinema and television pioneer
- Charles Robert Jenkins (born 1940), U.S. soldier
- Chris Jenkins, Welsh film producer, writer and effects animator
- Clive Jenkins (1926–1999), British trade unionist
- Cullen Jenkins, defensive lineman for the Green Bay Packers
- Dan Jenkins, (1929- ) American author-journalist
- David Jenkins (athlete) (born 1952), British athlete
- David Jenkins (figure skater) (born 1936), U.S. figure skater
- David Jenkins (librarian) (1912–2002) Welsh National Librarian
- David Edward Jenkins (born 1925), Bishop of Durham
- Ella Jenkins, folk singer
- Ernie Jenkins (1880–1958), Wales international rugby union player
- Ferguson Jenkins (born 1943), professional baseball player
- Florence Foster Jenkins (1868–1944), U.S. "soprano" known for her extraordinary bravery on stage
- George Neil Jenkins (1914–2007), British oral physiologist
- George W. Jenkins (1907–1996), American businessman and founder of Publix Super Markets
- Gordon Jenkins (1910–1984), U.S. musician
- Graeme Jenkins, British conductor
- Gwilym Jenkins, Welsh statistician
- Harold Jenkins (Conway Twitty, 1933–1993), U.S. rock and roll and country music singer
- Harry Jenkins (born 1952), Australian politician
- Helen Jenkins, a British triathlete
- Henry Jenkins, American author, professor at MIT
- Horace Jenkins, former player in the NBA
- Hugh Jenkins (1908–2004), British Labour Party politician
- Jean Jenkins (born 1938), Australian linguist, educator and politician
- Jean Jenkins (ethnomusicologist) (1922–1990), American/British ethnomusicologist
- Jerry B. Jenkins (born 1949), American author
- John Jenkins (composer) (1592–1678), English composer
- John Jenkins (governor), 17th century governor of North Carolina
- John Major Jenkins (born 1964), American Maya-author
- Joseph Jenkins (1818–1898), the "Welsh Swagman", farmer, poet and diarist
- Justin Michael Jenkins (born 1971), American artist and designer
- Karl Jenkins (born 1944), Welsh musician and composer
- Katherine Jenkins (born 1980), Welsh mezzo-soprano
- Keith Jenkins, English postmodern historian
- Kenny Jenkins, Scottish footballer
- Ken Jenkins (born 1940), American actor, best known as Dr. Bob Kelso in the American comedy-drama Scrubs
- Kris Jenkins, defensive lineman for the New York Jets
- Leoline Jenkins (1625–1685), Welsh lawyer and diplomat
- Leroy Jenkins (jazz musician) (born 1932), U.S. composer and free jazz violinist
- Leroy Jenkins (televangelist), U.S. televangelist
- Lew Jenkins (1916–1981), U.S. boxer
- Louise Freeland Jenkins (1888–1970), U.S. astronomer
- Michael Jenkins (Unification Church), president of the Unification Church of America
- Michael A. G. Jenkins, co-creator of the Jenkins-Traub algorithm
- Mick Jenkins (rugby), Welsh rugby player
- Neil Jenkins (born 1971), Welsh rugby union footballer
- Niki Jenkins (born 1973), Canadian judoka
- Philip Jenkins, professor of history and religious studies at Pennsylvania State University
- Philip Jenkins (drummer), of Kids in Glass Houses
- Renneker Jenkins (born 1989), American actor
- Richard Jenkins (born May 4, 1947), American character actor
- Richard L. Jenkins (1903–1991), American child psychiatrist
- Robert Jenkins (master mariner) (fl. 1731–1745), English master mariner (War of Jenkins' Ear)
- Robert Jenkins (Pennsylvania) (1769–1848), United States congressman from Pennsylvania
- Robert Jenkins (UK politician) (1900–1978), British Conservative Member of Parliament for Dulwich 1951–1964
- Robert H. Jenkins, Jr. (1948–1969), U.S. Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipient, killed in action in Vietnam
- Roy Jenkins (1920–2003), British politician
- Sally Jenkins (1960- ), American author-journalist
- Scoville Jenkins, American tennis player
- Simon Jenkins (born 1943), British newspaper columnist
- Stephan Jenkins (born 1964), rock singer
- Thomas Jenkins (headmaster), Shakespeare's headmaster
- Thomas Jenkins (antiquary) (1722–1798), English antiquarian in Rome
- Thornton A. Jenkins (1811–1893), U.S. Rear Admiral
- Walter Jenkins (1918–1985), top aide to Lyndon B. Johnson, resigned after a scandal
- William Fitzgerald Jenkins (writing as Murray Leinster) (1896–1975), U.S. science fiction author
- William L. Jenkins (born 1936), U.S. politician
- William Jenkins (1942-2004) Fought in the Rhodesian war
Fictional characters
- Anya Jenkins (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
- Doctor Albert Al Jenkins, fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders played by Adam Croasdell
- Billie Jenkins (Charmed)
- Bruno Jenkins, a nurse in the BBC medical drama Casualty
- Bruno Jenkins, a young boy in Roald Dahl's The Witches
- Bruno Jenkins, a punk/rock music project of TAT drummer Jake Reed
- Bruno Jenkins, a fictitious character portrayed by Charlie Potter in the 1990 film based on the story by Roald Dahl, The Witches
- Candice Jenkins- Super mom
- Carl Jenkins (Starship Troopers) (Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles)
- Christy Jenkins (Charmed)
- Howell Jenkins (Howl's Moving Castle)
- Leeroy Jenkins (World of Warcraft)
- Mrs. Jenkins, John Rolfe's maid in Disney's Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World
- Mrs. Jenkins, character in Timothy Goes to School
- Nicholas Jenkins, the narrator of Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time
- Peter "Tucker" Jenkins was a fictional character in the BBC children's programme Grange Hill, portrayed by Todd Carty
References
- ^ Celtic Family Maps
- ^ Probably derived from Johannes, Latin and Germanic rendering of the biblical name John. See Arthur, William An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names With an Essay on their Derivation and Import Sheldon, Blake, Bleeker & CO., New York 1857
- ^ Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
- ^ About the Jenkins' Family Name: http://www.djenkins.org/blog/?page_id=45
See also