
Origin of the Name Minchin
The
Minchin family history was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives. The name Minchin is of ancient origin in England where it is derived from the word 'minchen' meaning 'a nun'. The name became well established in Ireland during the sixteenth century especially in the area around Roscrea in Counties Tipperary and Offaly. An abbreviated form of this name is Minch which is mostly associated with County Kildare. Other variant forms of this name include Minnis and McNiece which are also derived from the Gaelic McNaois sept.
A sept or clan is a collective term describing a group of persons whose immediate ancestors bore a common surname and inhabited the same territory. Irish septs and clans that are related often belong to even larger groups, sometimes called tribes.
Minchin and the other variant names can also be found in some numbers in Ulster Province.
The Minchin coat of arms came into existence centuries ago. The process of creating coats of arms (also often called family crests) began in the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this. The new art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own coat of arms, including all Minchin descendants.