Hine Family History

English (Devon): occupational name from Middle English Old English hīne ‘servant member of a household’ also ‘farm laborer’ (such as a herdsman or shepherd). Originally a collective term for a body of servants from an Old English plural noun hīwan ‘household’ in early modern English it commonly acquired excrescent -d (see Hinde).

Evidence from Nottinghamshire shows that some bearers of the name were wealthy freemen which suggests that their eponymous ancestors were not farmhands but senior members of a lord's household.

From the late 15th century onward in western England from south to north a hine or hind also denoted a farm steward or manager a sense that may be relevant to the surname in northwestern England where hereditary naming had not been fully established by the 16th century.

Americanized form of German Hein.