Few surnames really mean what they appear to mean, and this name is even further away than most! It is in fact Olde English pre 6th century in that it derives from the word "wine" meaning friend. It has absolutely nothing to do with wine growing, for which the surname is "Vine" from the Old French word vigne. In other words "Wine" is an endearment address which developed into firstly a baptismal name and later a surname. Similar endearments which are now surnames include 'dear' itself, and 'darling'. The plural version as in "Wines" is a patronymic, which translates as "Son of Wine". The surname has been recorded for a long time, indeed back to the very beginning of surnames (see below), which perhaps suggests that it was popular with the Normans after 1066, at a time when many "English" names were lost. The name is also found in the Old English, and now Welsh "Wyn(n)", Walter Win being recorded in the pipe rolls of Essex in 1198, and William Wine in the Court Rolls of Lincoln for the year 1202. Later recordings include John Wynes, christened at St Giles Cripplegate, London, on May 22nd 1579, and George Wines, a witness at St Andrews Church, Holborn, on May 4th 1614. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Osketel Wine, which was dated 1179, the pipe rolls of County Suffolk, during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The church builder", 1154 - 1189. 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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