This name means "The son of Min", and derives from the English medieval "Emmaline" or the French "Mignon", both popular female names of the period. The origination is from "Kin" meaning "son" or "Little", this suffix having a Germanic or Anglo-Saxon background, and the name is rare for being a matronymic rather that a patronymic. There are a number of alternative spellings, the surname recordings including the following examples George Mynikin, St. Giles Cripplegate, on October 8th 1652, George Minnikins, at St. Andrews Church, Holborn, on January 24th 1666, Isaac Minikem, March 31st 1741, also at St. Giles Cripplegate and Daniel Minkin, who earlier married Ann Pierson at the Church of St. Bartholomew, the Great on January 21st 1721. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Mathew Mynekin, which was dated February 18th 1644, a witness at St. Botolph Church, London, during the reign of King Charles I, "The Martyr", 1625 - 1649. 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.

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