Chinn is a surname, originating both in England and among overseas Chinese communities.

Origins and statistics

As an English surname, the name Chinn comes from when a family lived near a crevice, chasm, or canyon. The name is derived from the Old English word chine, that comes from the Old English word "cinu," meaning fissure, or chasm. The surname meant "dweller by the ravine.". It is also a spelling, based on the pronunciation in some varieties of Chinese including Hakka, of the surname pronounced Chen in Mandarin. The similarly spelled surname Chin also shares both of these origins. According to statistics cited by Patrick Hanks, 1,316 people on the island of Great Britain and four on the island of Ireland bore the surname Chinn in 2011. In 1881 there were 1,032 people with the surname in Great Britain, primarily at Warwickshire and Cornwall. The 2010 United States Census found 6,211 people with the surname Chinn, making it the 5,601st-most-common name in the country. This represented an increase in absolute numbers, but a decrease in relative frequency, from 6,146 (5,220th-most-common) in the 2000 Census. In both censuses, about half of the bearers of the surname identified as White, one-quarter as Asian, and one-fifth as Black.

People

Fictional characters