Winn Name Study

Surnames/tags: Winn Wynne Wind

Contents 1 About the Project 2 About the Names 3 How to Join 4 How Do I Participate? 5 Research Pages 6 Membership 7 Related Surnames and Surname Variants 8 Communication

About the Project

The Winn Name Study project serves as a collaborative platform to collect information on the Winn name. The hope is that other researchers like you will join the study to help make it a valuable reference point for other genealogists who are researching or have an interest in the Winn name and as a permanent repository of our research for generations yet to come.

As a One Name Study, this project is not limited to persons who are related biologically, (Winn, Wynne, Wind, Wynd, Winde and possibly others.) c.f. related surnames and surname variants.

Individual studies can be used to branch out the research into specific methods and areas of interest, such as geographically (England Winn's), by time period (18th Century Winn's), or by topic (Winn DNA, Winn Occupations, Winn Statistics). These studies may also include a number of family branches which have no immediate link with each other. Some researchers may even be motivated to go beyond the profile identification and research stage to compile fully sourced, single-family histories of some of the families they discover through this name study project.

The project was started by JG Weston and Greg Winn (c.f. membership section) who both have Winns in their respective trees (but are not related). However, this project is open to anyone whether a Winn or not, you just need to want to improve our shared tree. Greg Winn now coordinates the [roject although JG Weston is still a member.

About the Names

The Winn name and its variations have more than one origin. Within England, UK, there are regional or geographic name densities derived from names given to :

1. Historical families by decree
2. Locations or landscape
3. Physical Characteristics
4. Immigration from the continent.

These will be explored as family lines are traced and may form the basis of deeper investigation.

Wynn as a surname comes in many variations. Wynn, Wynne, Winn, Gwynn, and Gwynne are all found today around the world. The principal origin of the name is the Welsh name is thought to be "Gwyn", dating back to the 8th century and meaning “white” or “fair" and relating to the Anglo-Saxons. While the Welsh Wynns extended into England, there do appear to be small groups with homegrown English roots. Other researchers believe there are other origins. Alternatives are; "Wine", an Old English pre 7th Century word and personal name meaning "the friend", or from Norse-Viking pre 9th Century "Hvin", probably a nickname for a "prickly person", and finally, it may be derived from "Wynn", an Olde English baptismal name which translates as "Joy".

The Irish Wynns are likely descendants from Wales. American and Australian Wynns by immigration out of England. These pathways will be explored as interested parties join the Project.

The other main variant, "Wind" has several spelling variations including Waind, Wind, Wynd, Wain and Wean. However, Wind is usually a topographical surname, either from localities (a windy place or a winding lane/wynd) from the Pre 7th century Olde English "gewind". However, Winde is also a name encountered in mainland Europe where the surname is also popular in the Netherlands, Denmark with similar origins and variations in Germany. In England, its origin was typically someone who lived near a pathway or small winding lane. Wind was also common in the North East England, especially in Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland, presumably from nearby windy places along shorelines, or small lanes and likely described either a person who lived by a particularly windy place or a "winding" road. It is tempting to associate Wind with Danish origins, however, it seems history may not support this without good DNA evidence. The Danes were driven out of the north post 1066. However, Scandinavian place names and personal names do exist in the North-East.

Edit - 24 Sep 2023. Greg Winn, who has a family lineage that gows back to a Wind surname variation, has yDNA tested which demonstrates a Scandinavian root. This is likely back in distant past to Danish conquests and settlements. However, it should be noted that not all Winn's have an Irish, Welsh connection. Recent family tracing clearly demonstrates that the Winds in County Durham, England have more that one origin. Some from Yorkshire, others as yet uncertain, but clearly hace a scandinavian root. It is recommended that Winn family members test for yDNA to check the family pathways.

It is important to bear in mind during your investigations, that a combination of illiteracy and interpretations of a name by a parish clerk, priest or census taker would have been a problem for someone unfamiliar with broad accents or regional dialects and parish records often reflected these variations. It was not uncommon for a Wind to have their name entered as a Wynd, Wynn or Winn, or a Winn recorded as Wynn etc. This was especially so for those of Welsh or North-East England descent with strong accents. Similarly, we have found the same person with their family in subsequent records of census and baptisms where their name is recorded differently, sometimes with all possible variations.

For those interested, the following links are for interesting demographic analyses of the variations and how they spread over time in Wales, England in the UK. The data starts from the census of 1841 and moves forward with successive censuses. These patterns show the fairly distinct regional focus of variants. Be aware that the links within these pages lead to TheGenealogist UK website which is a paid subscription service. However, the initial pages are free to view and hold fascinating insights into the frequency of a name, numbers within each County and distribution maps. There are some links to European name variants, these will be added to as we find useful background.

• Wynn Name Origin and Distribution
• Wynne Name Origin and Distribution
• Winn Name Origin and Distribution
• Wind Name Origin and Distribution
• Wind Surname distribution in Austria
• Modern Winde Surname Variants in the Netherlands

We hope to explore more of the pathways and origins of these interesting names.

How to Join

To join the Winn Name Study, first start out by browsing our current research pages to see if there is a specific study ongoing that fits your interests. If so, feel free to add your name to the Membership list below, post an introduction comment on the specific team page, and then dive right in!

If a research page does not yet exist for your particular area of interest, please contact the Name Study Coordinator:Greg Winn for assistance.

Once you are ready to go, you can also show your project affiliation with the ONS Member Sticker:

You may also use the following sticker on profiles that you work on that are related to this project.

How Do I Participate?

1. Add the sticker
   

   ... ... ... is a member of the Winn Name Study Project.
   to your own profile, this then serves as a bookmark to this page, so you can visit it often.
2. Add ONE_NAME_STUDIES and any of the name variants you have in your tree to your list of followed tags.
3. Leave Thank Yous for other WikiTreers who update your "Winn et al." profiles.
4. Ask questions in G2G if you find problems.
5. Update the research pages to share information.
6. Create and document your Bio on your own profile, particularly your early life, you know it best.
7. Complete full profiles for your own family.
8. Visit the Category page to find profiles that need working on.
9. Include a meaningful bio for each profile so that it represents a person's life
10. Add DNA results to help confirm connections
11. Add this sticker
    

    This profile is part of the Winn Name Study.
    to:

The oldest "Winn et al."" profile in each line.

Brick wall profiles

Notable profiles

Profiles that are being worked on for more than a few hours

This will highlight these profiles needing further research in category searches.

1. Document and correctly connect "Winn et al." lines other than your own.
2. Find orphaned "Winn et al." profiles and help improve them, adopt them if you are willing to keep a watch over them for suggestions.

Note: Please Do Not sticker every "Winn et al." profile in your tree, only those that need work on them.

Research Pages

Here are some of the current research pages included in the study. I'll be working on them, and could use your help!

Initially, in the early stages of this project, there are sub (team) projects set up for each surname, although some families may have more than one variation within them this system may be convenient for new members who have not yet pushed their tree back into earlier times, so they can concentrate on their own surname. Those who have got back before 18/1900 and into speling variations will need to look at more than one research page. This system can be re-organised or added to as the need arises and as we gain more experience together.

• Space:Winn_Name_Study_Research
• Space:Wynne_Name_Study_Research
• Space:Wynn_Project
• Space:Wind_Name_Study_Research
• Space:Wynd_Name_Study_Reearch
• Space:Winde_Name_Project_Research
• Space:Winn_(et_al)_Problem_Profiles

Membership

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• JG Weston

Related to Charles Basil Winn (1861-) by marriage via my Wife. Descended from Unknown Winn (abt.1660-).

• Greg Winn

Son of Gordon Henry Winn and descended from James Winde born abt.1670.

• Becky (Thames) Thames-Simmons

Related Surnames and Surname Variants

There are many names that can be considered as variants. When we set up this project we considered the ones we knew about and set up research pages for them, But as we go along we are finding more and more that could be included. We originally included a count of the number of profiles by variant, but as that number keeps changing with new additions, this has been discontinued. Instead you can find this information ot the top right of the Winn Genealogy page.

Not all of the name variants there have research pages set up. But if you have one of the variants in your tree and wish to research it we can set up a page for you.

There are other spelling variations (c.f. About the names) and you could find more by looking at theGenalgy page for each variant which will list others. Which names should be included in this project is probably lost in the mists of time. We will be guided by what we discover in our research.

Separate project pages for the main variants were created to make it easier for those who only have the one variant; there are a lot of Winn profiles and even more if you count all the variants.

Communication

Research notes can be edited straight into any of the research pages. Don't worry if you are not sure about formatting, this can be amended later if need be.

However for questions and general discussion it is better to do this outside the body of the project and research pages. There are basically four options available to us:-

• Profile (Free space page) comments.
• A G2G group
• A Google group
• A Discord chat

There are pros and cons to all these methods, which are used by many Wikitreers. The first two use up space on the Wikitree server. Space is not restricted, but this is a consideration. Profile comments are probably the easiest, nothing to set up, intuitive to use, but you have to scroll down to find them. It will also give long profiles but the newest comments will be at the top. Probably not practical.

A G2G group needs a little set up but this is not difficult. I don't think it is possible to use G2G and keep the contents private to the members of the One Name study, but this is probably an advantage. It can attract new members and a question or problem may be answered by a genealogist from outside our group with more experience. Wikitree is after all about collaboration.

Google groups are nice in that you can either use email or the web, or both, to receive and respond to the question/comments/discussion. There is a bit of set up and also admin when new members join the group. It would be closed to the public so private to our group. It's not ideal but relatively easy. There are some privacy issues in that the groups last forever and parts are searchable.

Discord is quite popular among Wiki teams participating in Wiki-challenges but has a bit of a learning curve for newcomers. Neither Greg nor I have any experience of setting it up but help from other Wikitreers should be forthcoming. It is chat oriented and those familiar with social media platforms will feel at home. Unlike twitter there is no limit on message size, so it can be used for serious discussions too.