Sinks History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• England

Etymology of Sinks

The surname Sinks is occupational, and would have originally denoted one who "engraves figures or designs on dies."

Early Origins of the Sinks family

Early History of the Sinks family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Sinks research. Another 40 words (3 lines of text) covering the years 1314, 1327 and 1379 are included under the topic Early Sinks History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Sinks Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Sinker, Sinka, Sinkeman, Sinkman, Sink and others.

Early Notables of the Sinks family

More information is included under the topic Early Sinks Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Sinks family

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Sinks name or one of its variants: Margaret Sinka, who settled in Maryland in 1665; Henry Sinker, who settled in Virginia in 1667; Benjamin Sinker, who was on record in 1780 as a Loyalist in the war of the American Revolution, August Sinker, who landed in New York in 1854.