Fincken - Name

This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and belongs to that sizeable group of early European surnames that were gradually created from the habitual use of nicknames. These nicknames were originally given with reference to a variety of personal characteristics, such as physical attributes or peculiarities, and supposed resemblance to an animal's or bird's appearance or disposition. The derivation, in this instance, is from the Olde English pre 7th Century "finc", Northern Middle English "fink", cognate with the Middle High German "vinke", Old High German "finc(h)o", finch, used to denote someone with a particularly attractive singing voice. Early examples of the surname from England include: Godric Finc, entered in the Old English Byname Register of 1049, and Aelfwin Finche, noted with Allwin Finke in "Early London Personal Names", dated 1148. One Walter Vinck was recorded in medieval documents of Zurich, dated 1223. In the modern idiom the name is variously spelt: Fin(c)k, Finch, Vin(c)k and Fincken, the last mentioned being particularly well recorded in 16th Century German Church Registers. On April 25th 1596, Otilia Fincken and Matthes Gensslinger were married at Landau in Pfalz Stadt, Pfalz, Bayern. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Walpurg Finckin, which was dated May 26th 1527, marriage to Hanns Kayser, at Nuernberg, Mittelfranken, Bayern, Germany, during the reign of Charles V, Habsburg Emperor, 1519 - 1558. 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.