Recorded in many forms including Fink, Fincke, Finker, Vinck, Vinker (German), Vink and Vincke (Swiss and Dutch), Finicj (Romanian), and Finch (English), this is a surname of several possible origins. As examples it may be an occupational name for a breeder of finches or a supplier of songbirds. Job-descriptive surnames originally denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer and later became hereditary. Alternatively the finch is a songbird, noted or his bright plumage, so the surname may also have originated as a nickname for a person with either a colourful personality, or one with a beautiful singing voice. The creation of surnames from nicknames was common practice in the Middle Ages, and many modern-day surnames derive from medieval nicknames referring to personal characteristics. Early examples of the surname recording include: Gilbert le Finch in the Curia Regis rolls of the county of Norfolk, England, in the year 1205, whilst Walther Vinck is recorded in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1225, and Johannes Finck, in Freiburg, Germany, in 1322. Frances Finch was recorded as being a dweller in "Elizabeth Cittee" in the Virginia colony of New England in the year 1620, before the arrival of the Pigrim Fathers in the same year. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Godric Finc, which was dated 1049, in the "Olde English Byname Register", during the reign of King Edward the Confessor, 1042-1066. Throughout the centures, surnames have continued to "develop," often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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