Adin is an uncommon

family name In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

found today in the United States (particularly New York City), England, Israel, New Zealand, Spain (particularly the Basque Country, Sweden and Turkey.

Origin

Biblical references

Since the name occurs in the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

and is mentioned in the Bible four times, it has been suggested that the name has

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

origins. Ezra 2:15 King James Version "The children of Adin, four hundred fifty and four". However, the

Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain The Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain (JGSGB) is a society for the study and encouragement of Jewish genealogy in Great Britain. The society is a member society of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies. Purpose ...

have no records of this as a Jewish family name. Albeit, the Consolidated Jewish Family Name Index of U.S. based

Avotaynu ''Avotaynu: The International Review of Jewish Genealogy'' was a magazine that focused on Jewish genealogy and family history published by Avotaynu Inc. (New Haven, Connecticut). It was established in 1985. An index to the first 24 volumes is ava ...

indicates Adin is a Jewish family name that was present in Poland and Belarus prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Due to the name having just 4 letters, it may be a phonetic coincidence that it exists across diverse cultures. ''

Who's Who A Who's Who (or Who Is Who) is a reference work consisting of biographical entries of notable people in a particular field. The oldest and best-known is the annual publication ''Who's Who (UK), Who's Who'', a reference work on contemporary promin ...

in the Old Testament Together with the Apocrytha'' by Joan Comay states that Adin (Heb. "delicate") 1. date unknown. Ancestor of a family of Judah who returned with

Zerubbabel Zerubbabel ( from ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a governor of the Achaemenid Empire's province of Yehud Medinata and the grandson of Jeconiah, penultimate king of Judah. He is not documented in extra-biblical documents, and is considered ...

from Exile in

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

Ezra Ezra ( fl. fifth or fourth century BCE) is the main character of the Book of Ezra. According to the Hebrew Bible, he was an important Jewish scribe (''sofer'') and priest (''kohen'') in the early Second Temple period. In the Greek Septuagint, t ...

2:15; 8:6;

Nehemiah Nehemiah (; ''Nəḥemyā'', "Yahweh, Yah comforts") is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work in rebuilding Jerusalem during the Second Temple period as the governor of Yehud Medinata, Persian Judea under Artaxer ...

7:20.

Records of Adin's in England

The International Genealogical Index charts migration of the Adin family name throughout England from Great Wigborough, Essex, in 1567, to the midlands in the late 17th century, in particular

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

and

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, followed by migration to Liverpool and Manchester in the 1840s during the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

and on to the United States. Some branches remained in

until they emigrated to

Foxton, New Zealand Foxton () is a town in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand - on the lower west coast of the North Island, in the Horowhenua district, southwest of Palmerston North and just north of Levin, New Zealand, Levin. The town is located c ...

, in 1863, arriving on a ship called the ''

Helvellyn Helvellyn (; possible #Names, meaning: ''pale yellow moorland'') is a mountain in the English Lake District, the highest point of the Helvellyn range, a north–south line of mountains to the north of Ambleside, between the lakes of Thirlmere a ...

''.

Cultural assimilation within the United States

During the 19th and 20th centuries many immigrants poured into the United States from various

European countries The list below includes all entities falling even partially under any of the various common definitions of Europe, geographical or political. Fifty generally recognised sovereign states, Kosovo with limited, but substantial, international reco ...

and the

dominant culture A dominant culture is a cultural practice that is dominant within a particular political, social or economic entity, in which multiple cultures co-exist. It may refer to a language, religion or ritual practices, social value and/or social ...

found their names to be difficult to pronounce and/or even spell. Adin, as a family name was chosen by a very small number of

Eastern European Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountains, and ...

immigrants during the

cultural assimilation Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's Dominant culture, majority group or fully adopts the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group. The melting pot model is based on this ...

to the United States for

socio-political Political sociology is an interdisciplinary field of study concerned with exploring how governance and society interact and influence one another at the micro to macro levels of analysis. Interested in the social causes and consequences of how ...

reasons and acceptance by the

. Entire families legally modified their

from "Adinski" and "Adinus" to Adin; some decades after their arrival into the United States.

Emigration to Israel

Since 1948 many immigrants have also changed their names back to Hebrew names; some have chosen Adin, in order to erase remnants of "galuti" (exiled) life still surviving in

family names In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

from other languages.

Other uses

Adin (first name) is also used as a first name in Spanish-speaking and Bosnian cultures.

References

{{Reflist Americanized surnames English-language surnames Turkish-language surnames