Origin and Meaning

Origin and Meaning

What/Who was the original Wingham?

The original Wingham is a village in Kent England.

With it's abundance of water sources, fertile soil and (once) natural harbour, it is likely that Wingham has been inhabited for a very long time.

Evidence has been found of occupation by the Romans, and during the Neolithic period. We have ourselves found pieces that may date back to the Mesolithic.

How old is the name?

It is likely that name has Saxon origins. Some think it may be pre-Roman, but we have found no evidence to support this.

The earliest written form we have found - Uuigincggaham - Source: http://users.ap.net/~lancelot/gen/parishes.html

In the The Domesday Book of (date) it is written as WINGEHÁ and later as Wigginingham

Earliest surname?

Surnames were often given to people to denote thier place of birth or previous home. It is likely that anyone with the name can trace their ancestry back to one of the places bearing the name. The earliest use we have found to date is Henry de Wingham who was keeper of the Great Seal 1255–9, Bishop of London in 1259-62 and rector of Preston 1256–62

Earliest Christian name

Not so easy to trace and any information would be welcome. The only one we know of is the prominent It specialist and author Wingham Rowan

Earliest company name

Still working on this one

What does it mean?

Meanings of the name Wingham that we have found are based on Olde English forms. These can be broken down in a number of ways. You can have fun creating your own meaning based upon this list:

wig

(pre-Christian) temple

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061101131612AAJGx22

wiga

warrior

http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~kurisuto/germanic/oe_bright_glossary.html

ing

'place characterized by -'

'place associated with -'

'associated with -',

'connected with -'

http://www.glaucus.org.uk/-ing.htm

'son of -'

http://www.yorksj.ac.uk/dialect/EnglishPN.htm

'he who is foremost'

a Norse and Germanic fertility god

http://www.behindthename.com/php/view.php?name=ing

inga

'of the people of -'

'of the followers of -'

'of the family of -'

'of the dwellers at -'

http://www.glaucus.org.uk/-ing.htm

ingas

'associated with -'

'connected with -'

'dependents of -'

'people of -'

'the people who lived at-'

http://www.yorksj.ac.uk/dialect/EnglishPN.htm

ingaham

'the homestead of the followers of - '

http://www.yorksj.ac.uk/dialect/Angset.htm

ham

homestead

Note: the Australian aboriginal word wingan means "place where bats drink" - source: Manning Historical Society

So Wingham may be The homestead of the followers of the foremost warrior, who live by his is heathen temple to the Norse god of fertility. The nearby village of Woodnesborough also takes its name from a Norse god (Odin's Barrow).

We settled on 'village of the dwellers at the heathen temple' (http://www.glaucus.org.uk/-ing.htm) because we like it

You can find out more about the complexity of deciphering place names at:

http://www.thurrock-community.org.uk/historysoc/gelling1.htm

http://www.answers.com/topic/etymology-of-cumbrian-place-names-1

http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/engplnam.html

More on the meaning of relevant componants of the name Wingham can be found at

http://www.takeourword.com/TOW203/page2.html

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