Hain Family History
Hain Name Meaning
English: topographic name from Middle English heghen a weak plural of hay from Old English (ge)hæg ‘enclosure’ denoting someone who lived at a farm or a habitational name from any of various places called with this word. See also Haynes . English: from the Middle English personal name Hain Heyne. Like Deyn this may be a rhyming pet form of Reynald (see Reginald ) or other names of Norman origin beginning with Rein- such as Reyner and Rainbert. Alternatively the name may be a variant of Hagan . English: nickname for a wretched individual from Middle English hain(e) heyne hayn ‘wretch niggard’. In some cases however it is possible that this name derives from a spelling (not a pronunciation) of hi(g)ne ‘servant’ (see Hine ) with the inverted spelling -ey- for i. German: topographic name for someone who lived by a small woods copse Middle High German hage(n) (see Hagen ) hain or a habitational name from any of various places called with this word. German: from the ancient Germanic personal name Hagin originally a byname from the same element as in 2 above. Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): metronymic from the Yiddish personal name Khaye ‘life’ + the Slavic possessive suffix -in.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press
