Last name: Addinall

This unusual and interesting name is a good example of how dialectual, regional differences can create surnames that at first glance seem unconnected to their original source. In this instance the origin of the name "Addinall" or "Addenall" is the male personal name "Adam", meaning "red", which was taken up first by the Irish, as in the 7th Century St. Adamnan, and by the time of the Domesday Book (1086) was a popular name in England, particularly in the north of the country, where most of the many variant surnames generated from "Adam" are to be found. These vary from the diminutive forms "Adnett", "Adkin" and "Adcock", to patronymics such as "Addess", "Addison", "Adnett" and "Addinall". One "Jane Adinal" married "John Flemming" in Cantley, Yorkshire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Elizabeth Adenell, daughter of Lenarde, christened, which was dated 14th October 1632, Holy Trinity Micklegate, Yorkshire, during the reign of King Charles 1, known as "The Martyr", 1625 - 1649. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Visitor Comments

carole gent
i have an ancestor with the name adinal chapman. she was married to john collison,in wolsingham, durham in 1676, but i cannot find any trace of her baptism there. it would seem that her father and at least two brothers and a sister settled there about 1650. the name adinal was used in wolsingham for about 100 years, being passed down through the family and in laws. the most feminine spelling of it is adinell. nice to know what it means, likely a mother or grandmother's surname. happened often in these parts. thank you!