Baines is a

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name, ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national i ...

, Scottish or Welsh origin. It shares many of the same roots with the British surname Bains.Reaney, P.H. ''A Dictionary of British Surnames'' Routledge & Kegan Paul, 2nd edition (1976)Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames'' Oxford University Press (1988) It shares some roots with the British surname Bain.

Derivation and variants

Baines has a number of different sources, several of them nicknames and another based on an occupation. In

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and the north of England the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ce ...

word ''bān'' ('bone') became

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...

''bān'' and ''bain''. It may have become a nickname in the plural, meaning 'bones' or ' ong-egs' (''cf.'' modern German ''Bein'', also meaning both "bone" and "leg"). The Middle English ''bayn'', ''beyn'' and the

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

''beinn'' meant 'straight' or 'direct', which may have become a nickname. The Middle English ''bayne'' (and French ''bain'') meant 'bath'. This may have become an occupational surname for an attendant at a public bath. Baines may also have Welsh roots, from the patronymic ''ab Einws'' ('son of Einws'). ''Einws'' is a shortened version of the Welsh name ''Ennion'', meaning 'Anvil'. Variants of the surname Baines include Bains, Banes, Baynes and Bayns.

Frequency of occurrence

At the time of the British Census of 1881, its relative frequency was highest in

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest l ...

(31.2 times the British average), followed by

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershi ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshir ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditio ...

Montgomeryshire , HQ= Montgomery , Government= Montgomeryshire County Council (1889–1974)Montgomeryshire District Council (1974–1996) , Origin= , Status= , Start= , End= ...

and

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council w ...

. Retrieved 23 January 2014 Hanks and Hodges suggest in their "A Dictionary of Surnames" that many present day Baines descend from Robert Baines of Ipswich, Suffolk, England (born ). John Baines, Liverpool, England, Doctor of Physics.

Notable people with the surname Baines

''(In alphabetical order)'' * Ajay Baines, Canadian ice hockey player * Andrew Baines, Australian artist * Anthony Baines, English musicologist * Charlie Baines (1896–1954), English footballer * Chris Baines (born 1947), English gardener, naturalist, television presenter and author * Edward Baines (1774–1848), English newspaper-proprietor and politician * Edward Baines (1800–1890), son of the above, also a nonconformist English newspaper editor and Member of Parliament * Frank Baines (1877–1933), English architect * Lewis Baines (1998–present) English footballer playing for Fleetwood Town * Francis Baines (1648–1710), English Jesuit * Sir George Grenfell-Baines, English architect * George Washington Baines (1809–1882), grandfather of president Lyndon Baines Johnson *

Harold Baines Harold Douglas Baines (born March 15, 1959) is an American former right fielder and designated hitter (DH) in Major League Baseball who played for five American League (AL) teams from 1980 to 2001, and is best known for his three stints with t ...

, former right fielder and designated hitter in Major League Baseball * Jervoise Athelstane Baines, Census Commissioner in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

* John Baines (born 1946), incumbent Professor of Egyptology at the University of Oxford * Kate Baines (born 1978), English actress * Leighton Baines (born 1984) English footballer * Matthew Talbot Baines (1799–1860), British lawyer and Liberal politician * Michael Baines (1898–1990), English cricketer and British Army officer * Nicholas M. Baines (born 1978), English keyboard player (Kaiser Chiefs) * Nick Baines (bishop) (born 1957), Bishop of Croydon * Paul Baines (academic) (born 1973), British marketing academic * Paul Baines (footballer) (born 1972), former English footballer * Peter Augustine Baines (1787–1843), English Benedictine * Richard Baines, historical figure - Informant against

Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe (; baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights. Based upon the "m ...

* Robert A. Baines (born 1946), former mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire * Steve Baines (born 1954), former English footballer * Thomas Baines (1820–1875), English artist and explorer * Thomas Baines (Ontario) (1799–1867), Canadian Crown Land Agent * William Baines (1899–1922), English pianist and composer

Distribution

As a surname, Baines is the 1,732nd most common surname in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is d ...

, with 6,209 bearers. It is most common in

, where it is the 626th most common surname, with 1,784 bearers. Other concentrations include,

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

, (88th,1,704),

City of Leeds The City of Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. The metropolitan borough includes the administrative centre of Leeds and the towns of Farsley, Garforth, Guiseley, Horsforth, Morley, Otley, Pudsey, Rothwell, W ...

, (167th,1,722), and

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exis ...

, (380th, 1,702).

References

{{surname Welsh-language surnames English-language surnames Surnames of Welsh origin Surnames of Lowland Scottish origin

Derivation and variants

Frequency of occurrence

Notable people with the surname Baines

Distribution

See also

References