This is an English locational surname from the village of Dennington in the county of Suffolk. The village is first recorded in the famous Domesday Book of England, ordered by the Norman King William 1st in 1086. The spelling then was given as Dingifetuna and also Dingiuetuna, place names being a serious problem to the usually French trained clerics who wrote the original manuscripts. The word "denn" was generally used to describe a pasture or meadow but as the second element in a name, and it may be that in this case the prefix referred to a Dane or Danes, to give the meaning of the place (tun) of the Danish tribe (Denn-ing-). Certainly the Danish-Vikings had settlements all down the east coats of England from the 7th century, so this seems a reasonable proposal although other translations are possible. Locational surnames are usually "from" names. That is to say surnames given to people after they left their original village to move somewhere else, but in this case the surname is very well recorded in the Suffolk area. This suggests that some nameholders at least may originate from the original lords of the manor of Dennington. The local church registers of Suffolk include examples such as Thomas Dennington of Kelsale, on November 12th 1570, and Thomas Dinnington, who is also recorded at various times as Dynnington and Dennington, on January 21st 1593, at Knoddishall.

© Copyright: Name Origin Research 1980 - 2024