Pinch
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Frequency: (254)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
English (mainly Devon): 1. nickname for a chirpy person, from Middle English pinch, pink ‘(chaf)finch’. Compare Finch. 2. possibly a metonymic occupational name from Middle English pinche ‘pleated fabric’, from Middle English pinche(n) ‘to pinch (pastry)’, ‘to pleat (fabric)’, ‘to crimp (hair, etc.)’, also ‘to cavil’, ‘to be niggardly’.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
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Copyrights:
Oxford Dictionary of Family Names
Dictionary of American Family Names. Copyright © 2006 Patrick Hanks. All rights reserved.
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