This unusual name is of German origin and is a metonymic occupational name for someone who produced and or sold wine. The derivation is from the medieval German "win", in modern German "wein", meaning "wine" or "vine", with "mann", man. The name does not appear to be recorded in England before the mid 17th Century (see below) and thereafter is recorded in a variety of anglicized forms, such as John Winman (1681, London), George Weinman (1757, ibid.) and Jeremiah Wineman (1765, ibid.). Catherine, daughter of Johann and Elizabeth Weinmann, was christened on the 17th July 1809 in London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Sarah Weineman, married Miles Jenkinson, which was dated 3rd June 1639, St. Botolph, Bishopsgate, 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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