Recorded in a number of spellings of which the three principal forms are Brinkman, Brinckman and Brinckmann, this is a surname of Germanic origins. First recorded in the charters of Barth in the German state of Pomerania, when Johannes Brinkeman appears there in the year 1334, this is an occupational and residential surname for a small farmer. The precise description seems to be 'one who lives (or works) on grassy banks' and not surprisingly the name is one which is now well recorded in both England and America. Early examples of the surname recording include: Hans Brinckman of Osterrode, near Honberg, Germany, in 1592, and Harman Brinckman, whose daughter Rebecca was christened at Christ Church, Greyfriars, in the city of London, on July 22nd 1689. Later in 1705 it seems that Michael, another child of Harman, who this time is recorded as Brinkman, was christened at the famous church of St Martins in the Field, Westminster, on July 13th of that year. This is believed to be the first spelling of the name as Brinkman, and it maybe that all later English descendants have the name as a result of a simple mistake in spelling nearly three hundred years ago.

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