Frequency: (8838)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. English: habitational name from a place in Nottinghamshire called Bingham, from an unattested Old English clan name, Binningas, or an Old English word bing ‘(a) hollow’ + Old English hām ‘homestead’. The name is also established in Ireland.
2. Jewish (American): Americanized form of various like-sounding habitational names such as Bingenheimer.
FOREBEARS: The Bingham family of Melcombe Bingham in Dorset can trace their descent back to Robert de Bingham, recorded in 1273, who probably came from Bingham in Nottinghamshire. His descendants included the Earls of Lucan. A branch of the family was established in Ireland, where they gave their name to Binghamstown in County Mayo. Sir Richard Bingham (c. 1528-99) was Marshal of Ireland. Charles Bingham (1735-99) was created earl of Lucan in 1795.
William Bingham, born in Philadelphia in 1752, was a prominent land speculator and founder of the Bank of North America in 1781. Hiram Bingham, born in Bennington, VT, in 1789, was a missionary to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii).
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
