Possibly an altered spelling of southern German and Austrian Pinz, from a pet form of the personal name Berchtold (see Berthold).
Dutch: from Middle Dutch pin(ne) ‘wooden peg or pin’, ‘iron pin or point’, hence presumably a metonymic occupational name for someone who made or used such items.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
Start your FREE family tree. Who will you discover?
A family tree is the easiest way to start discovering your family history. To begin, just enter whatever you know and we'll use that to try and find more information for you.
Begin your family tree with your name:
The pins name in History
A unique volume of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary following the pins family name as far back in history as possible.
Member Connections
Anonymously contact one of the Ancestry members researching the pins last name.