Jenkins
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English
Alternative forms
- (surname): Jinkins
Etymology
A patronymic surname that is derived from the male given name John + -kin (which forms diminutive )+ -s (denoting "son of") hence meaning "son of little John". It was originally an offshoot of the male medieval name Jenkin/Jankin. The name was brought from the crusaders; it originated in Cornwall but became popular in England and Wales.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛŋkɪnz/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Hyphenation: Jen‧kins
Proper noun
Jenkins
- A surname originating as a patronymic of Cornish and in English ("mainly of Devon") origin.
- A city in Kentucky.
- A city in Minnesota.
Derived terms
Statistics
According to statistics in the United States, Jenkins is the 114th most common surname belonging to approximately 220,830 individuals. Jenkins is most common amongst White (73.9%) individuals and secondly common amongst Black (20.3%) individuals. All other races with the surname Jenkins are (3.3%) of the population.
Noun
Jenkins (plural Jenkinses)
- (derogatory, dated, colloquial) A flatterer or sycophant.
- the Jenkins employed by a newspaper
- October 1869, George William Curtis, Civil-Service Reform
- rouse the country for Jones and Justice or Jenkins and the Rights of Man
- 1868, Edward Isidore Sears, editor, The National Quarterly Review, volume 16, page 404:
- Because they are styled "the executive," "executive officers," &c., by their Jenkinses, and are declared by the same authorities to possess unbounded knowledge, and transcendent "executive ability," they sometimes fancy themselves the Czar, the Shah, or the Grand Turk […]