This interesting and unusual surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century male given name "Winemann", a compound of "wine", friend, and "mann", man. "Wine", a widely occurring initial element in Olde English personal names, for example, "Winegar", friend-spear, and "Winebeald", friend-bold, is also found on its own, as in: Osketel Wine (Suffolk, 1199), and Thomas le Wyne (Sussex, 1296). In 1166, one Wineman de Wanetun was noted in the Pipe Rolls of Nottinghamshire, and in 1250, Walter Wineman was recorded in the Book of Fees for Northamptonshire. Surnames derived from given names are the oldest and most pervasive surname type, and in vernacular naming traditions (as distinct from religious), names were originally composed of vocabulary elements of the local language, and no doubt bestowed for their auspicious connotations. Further early examples of the surname include: William Wynemon, entered in the 1274 Hundred Rolls of Shropshire. The name is now recorded in London Church Registers under the variant spelling Weinman, which suggest that in some instances, Winman may be an Anglicized form of the German occupational name Weinman(n), wine merchant. On June 29th 1681, John, son of Edward Winman, was christened at St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Walter Wineman, which was dated 1225, in the "Calendar of the Patent Rolls of Wiltshire", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. 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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