Recorded as Hind, Hindes, Hinds, Hine, Hynes, and others, this is an Anglo-Irish surname. It has two possible origins, each with its own history and derivation. Firstly it may be of pre 7th century Anglo-Saxon origin, and occupational. If so it derives from the word "hine", meaning a boy or lad, as in stable lad, a term still in use today. This term does not indicate any age group, but a male in charge of a numberof horses. In the very begining the term used was "hiwan", meaning a household. Servants in important households were highly regarded, and frequently those who held senior positions enjoyed certain privileges. Early examples of the surname include William le Hyne in the rolls of Oxfordshire for the year 1240, and Robert le Hine in the county of Suffolk in 1273. The second possible origin is that the name is from the Gaelic O' hEidhin, In former times they were a leading clan from County Galway, descended from Guaire, the Hospitable, King of Connaught in the 7th century. Mulroy O'Heyne was the father-in-law of Brian Boru, the founder of the Irish state. Later recording examples include William, the son of John Hines, christened at Lavenham, Suffolk, in 1611, and Joseph Hinds or Hynds, who was one of the earliest settlers in the new American colonies. He embarked on the ship "Bonaventure of London", bound for Barbados and Virginia on April 3rd 1635. The coat of arms has the blazon of a red field, a chevron between three red hinds. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Mulroy O'Heyne. This was dated 1014, in the "Records of the Battle of Clontarf", Ireland, during the reign of Brian Boru, "High King of Ireland", 940 - 1014. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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