Recorded as Lyninge, Lynnen, Lining, Linning and Linnings, this is apparently an English surname. If so it is almost certainly locational and probably from a place called Lyninge or similar, which may have existed in the Kent-Sussex region, as the almost similar town of Lyminge is also to be found there. Alternatively it may even be a transposition of Lyminge, since over the centuries accents and dialects were often very thick, and spelling at best indifferent, which often lead to a transposition of the spelling. Lyminge is first recorded as Liminge in the year 798 a.d., the meaning being the place on the Riven Limen, although curiously Lyminge is not on a river! The spelling as Lyninge probably means exactly the same, from the Olde English pre 7th century word 'hlynn' meaning a fast flowing river. Locational surnames are usually 'from' names. That is to say names given to people after they left their original homes to move somewhere else. The easiest way to identify such people being to call them by the name of the place from whence they came. In this case early examples of surname recordings in the diocese of Greater London include Robery Lynnen at St Augustines church, Watling Street, on August 16th 1590, and Sarah Linning at St. Giles Cripplegate, on December 14th 1668.

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