Show ContentsWaine History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Waine is from the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name was given to a person who was a wainwright or wagon builder. The surname Waine is derived from the Old English word wægnwyrhta, which means wainwright. 1 2

"Wain is an old, but nearly obsolete, word for wagon. In Sussex, a shed in which wagons stand is called a wain-house or ' wen-hus,' and in some parts of England a wagoner is called a wain-man, whence the surname Wenman. Nor must we forget the constellation, Charles's Wain. A Wainwright was therefore synonymous with Cartwright and Wheelwright, also English surnames, and signified a builder of wagons." 1

Early Origins of the Waine family

The surname Waine was first found in Worcestershire where they were Lords of the manor of Dudelei from very ancient times, and it is possible that they are interrelated with the Norman Baron William FitzAnsculf whose castle was in Dudley.

One of the earliest records of the name was Alimar Wanwrecthe who was listed in Essex in 1237. Adam the Waynwrith was listed in Yorkshire in 1285 and Alan le Waynwright was listed in the Subsidy Rolls of Lancashire in 1285. 2

Early History of the Waine family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Waine research. Another 75 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1568, 1577, 1592 and 1678 are included under the topic Early Waine History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Waine Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Waine family name include Wainwright, Waynewright, Wainright, Wayn and others.

Early Notables of the Waine family

Another 28 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Waine Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Waine migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Investigation of the origins of family names on the North American continent has revealed that early immigrants bearing the name Waine or a variant listed above:

Waine Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Amyte Waine, aged 30, who arrived in Virginia in 1610 aboard the ship "Swan" 3
  • John Waine, aged 30, who arrived in Virginia in 1618 aboard the ship "Neptune" 3
  • Ann Waine, who landed in Virginia in 1623 3


  1. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  2. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
  3. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)


Houseofnames.com on Facebook