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This Project is an attempt to compile profiles of people with the surnames Haines and Haynes (as well as related surnames such as Hayne and Heyne), who are (or were) of British descent. It is probable that all of these surnames within Britain had the same original meaning, but that time and regional inflections have caused variations in spelling. (There are German surnames that are quite similar, but they would not be relevant to this Project.) The ultimate purpose of the Project is to try to identify the geographical loci of the surnames and how they might relate to the various spellings.
The internet (and the world of words in general) is rife with misinformation and, if repeated often enough, it becomes accepted as "common knowledge". Such is the case with surnames. Claims of Haines and Haynes "family crests", a "Haynes Castle" in Bedfordshire, the name appearing in the Domesday Book and other falsehoods are tossed around as if they were factual (they're not).
A variety of claims have been made as to the origins of these surnames, from a 12th century Welsh given name of "Einws" to "Hegena" (allegedly an old English given name), from the Old Norse given name "Haghni" to the Old English "haga" meaning "hedged" or "enclosed by hedges", and from "hag", which supposedly meant "capable" or "comfortable", to the Middle English term "heyne", meaning "a wretched person"!
The most common -- and perhaps most likely -- root is also the most prosaic: an enclosure of some sort, whether hedgerows, livestock pens or some other structure intended to separate, protect or delineate rural areas or farms. If indeed an Old English word similar to "hayne" described an enclosure such as a hedgerow that surrounded a farm or livestock, the claimed origin may have merit.
Although searching for these obsolete words and trying to tease out their modern meanings is difficult, there are some hints in other old English words. "Hæg-" is indeed an old English root that appears in words like "hægweard" (a keeper of cattle in a common field -- perhaps like "hedge-warden"), "hægsugga" (hedge-sparrow) and "hæghál" (safe and sound). The "æ" dipthong would produce a sound that would rhyme with the modern English "hay", so it's not far-fetched to think that a surname could evolve from "hay-" that meant "enclosure". In this way, the variants on Hayne resemble the surname "Bailey", which also derives from a structure that provides enclosing protection (albeit in the Norman tongue).
These various surnames probably came into use as so many surnames did -- to differentiate between different persons with the same given (or "first") name. Perhaps, some six centuries ago, a farmer called Edward or the like, described himself to a person he just met as "Edward, from the hayne", which is a short step from being contracted to "Edward Hayne", especially as people began to need to sign their names on documents during the Renaissance.
If the surnames are indeed derived from an Old English term for an enclosure, it is unlikely to be able to isolate their origin to a single location; it is far more probable that there were centers where the name became common before spreading to the cities and across the Atlantic. Still, the variations in spelling may denote regional inflections in their earliest usages.
The earliest examples I can find of each surname on Geni is as follows:
Hayne -- Walter Hayne, born 1450 in Stowford, Devon, very near Sidmouth Haynes -- Richard Haynes, born c. 1472 in Berkshire Haines -- Richard Haines, born 1490 in Northamptonshire
All three locations are distant enough from each other to make their common ancestry unlikely. Ideally, this Project could provide a means to pinpoint the geographic origins of the surname, and to study the dispersion of persons with this surname to where they are distributed around the globe today.