This is an English name of some antiquity, deriving from the medieval given name Jenkin, which is a diminutive of John (meaning "Grace of the Lord") with the diminutive suffix "kin", indicating "young John". There are a number of variant forms of the surname in the modern idiom, ranging from Jenkin, Jenkyn and Jenking, to Jen(c)ken, Jinkin and Junkin. The adding of an "s" to the surname is the patronymic form of the name indicating "son of", first recorded in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire of 1327, where Richard Jenkins and William Jankins are both listed. The surname Jenkins is widespread in England, but is associated especially with Wales. One David Jenkins (1582 - 1663), the Welsh judge and royalist, was captured by the parliamentarians at Hereford, and imprisoned until the Restoration. He was a patron of Welsh bards in Glamorganshire. A Coat of Arms was granted to the family of Charlton Hill, Shropshire, is gold, a black lion rampant reguardant. The Crest consists of a gold lion passant reguardant a black murel crown. The Motto, "Perge sed cante", translates as "Advance, but cautiously". The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Janekyn, which was dated 1296, in the "Subsidy Rolls of Sussex", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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.

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