Recorded as Hannington and Hennington, this is an English surname. It is locational from any of the four villages called Hannington in the counties of Northamptonshire, Wiltshire, Lancashire and Wawickshire. All these places have the same meaning, which is probably the place (tun) of the Hanna people (-ing), from the pre 7th century Olde English. However "Hanna" can be either a personal name, or it could refer to somebody who lived at a chicken farm, as the word "hana" meant the cock bird. Locational surnames are usually either those of the original lord of the manor and his descendants, or as seems to be the case with this name, a "from" name. That is to say a name given to a person after he or she moved somewhere else, and were best identified by the name of the place from whence they came. Spelling over the centuries being at best erratic, and local dialects very thick, often lead to the development of "sounds like" spellings. In this case the first known recording is believed to be that of Adam de Hannington in the Curia Regis rolls of the county of Westmoreland in the year 1392. Later examples taken from the surviving registers of the diocese of Greater London include: Frances Hannington, who married Thomas Gladwin at St James Clerkenwell, on April 1st 1627, and Samuel Hennington who married Grace Elford at St Georges chapel, Hanover Square, Westminster, on June 6th 1792.