Recorded in various spellings as shown below, this is an English locational surname. It orginates from the ancient village of Blencarn in Cumberland, the village name itself being an overlap confusion of Ancient British and Gaelic since both Blen, formerly pre Roman Ancient British "Blaen" and Carn, formerly "cairn or carn" have the same meaning of "hill". The village is not recorded in the famous Domesday Book of 1086 as the Norman fiefdom did not extend as far north, stopping at York. The first recording of the place name was in the charters known as the Court of Fees relating to rates or poll tax in the register of 1210 in the reign of King John. Early examples ofsurname recordings include Robert Blynkarne of Huntingdon in the year 1547, Mary Blenckhorne of the same county in 1611, and Mary Blinkiron who married William Matthews at the church of St. Mary Magdalene, in the city of London on May 30th 1713. The first recorded spelling of the family name is possibly that of William Blenkarn. This was dated 1429, in the Friary Register of York, during the reign of King Henry V1, known as "The Founder of Eton College", 1422 - 1461. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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