Recorded in a number of spellings including Blankhorn, Blenkhorn, Blinkhorn, Blenkarn, Blenkarne, Blenkhorne, amd Blenkin, this is an English and sometimes Scottish, surname. It is locational and originates from the ancient village of Blencarn in the county of Cumberland on the Scottish Borders. The place name and hence the surname derives from the pre 6th century 'blaen-carn' meaning 'hill with a cairn', possibly a reference to an ancient fortress or burial ground on the hill. The village is not recorded in the famous Domesday Book of 1086 as the area was then claimed by Scotland, and the Norman "Fiefdom" did not extend so far north. The first place name recording is in the English register known as the 'Court of Fees', being the Rates or Poll Tax Register of the year 1210, in the reign of King John of England (1199 - 1216). Early examples of surname recordings taken at random, include Robert Blynkarne of Huntingdon in 1547, Mary Blinckhorne also of Huntingdon in 1611, John Blankhorn of Whitby, on May 24th 1646, whilst Mary Blinkhorn married William Matthews at St. Mary Magdalene, London on May 30th 1713. The first recorded spelling of the family name may be that of William Blenkarn. This was dated 1429, in the Friary Rolls of York, during the reign of King Henry V1, known as "The Founder of Eton College", 1422 - 1461. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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