Search for content in message boards

origin of Toynbee surname

origin of Toynbee surname

Claire (View posts)
Posted: 27 Apr 2001 10:49AM GMT
Living in a multicultural city, I'm often asked
what nationality 'Toynbee' is. Eyebrows are raised
when I say English, because the name has no obvious
English meaning.

What does it mean? I heard a sad family myth
that 'Toynbee' is a corruption of 'torn body' and
there's a cripple in every generation. Not likely.


Then there was the effort to connect it to the names
recorded in the Domesday Book. Maybe it's derived from
Tynburgh? That's unlikely too.

Actually, Toynbee is thought to be a placename. If you
look at old parish records, you'll see that the Toynbees
apparently originated in Lincolnshire. While there's
no place called Toynby in Lincolnshire, there are two
areas called Toynton - near Spilsby and by Horncastle.

Not many Toynbees left in Lincolnshire now...

Re: origin of Toynbee surname

Yve Burr (View posts)
Posted: 18 Jun 2004 3:27PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Burr Alcock Toynbee Ward
Very Interesting reading. I have Toynbee in family. The word By is meaning town/village in Norwegian. Perhaps this then has a bearing when you have Toynton as could be Toynby? Is ton anglo- saxon for the same as by? Fascinating hobby!!!

Hilsen fra Norge (Greetings from Norway)

also Sinclair [Re: origin of Toynbee surname]

Posted: 18 Jun 2004 6:49PM GMT
Classification: Query
Hi Yve,

Yes, digging into family history is fascinating stuff. I didn't know Toynbees had got to Norway, too!

The historian Arnold J. Toynbee mentioned someone's suggestion that "Tumby" in Lincolnshire had once been "Toinby", but I wonder too if "Toynton" might've orignally been "Toynby". There are certainly a lot of "-by" names in that area, thanks to the Norse influence. And there are Lincolnshire families named Toyne, too.

Another of my family lines is St Clair or Sinclair (or Sinkler). I understand there are Sinclairs in Norway, and I've heard of the Pillarguri Festival through the Sinclair's Club (website www.sinclairsclub.net). I know the Chief of Clan Sinclair is also patron of the Caledonian Society of Norway (www.cally.org).

Here in Canada, the Embassy of Norway's website (www.emb-norway.ca/) has links to webcams all over your country, and I enjoy visiting... I'm still waiting for the snow to melt in Svalbard!

Regards,
Claire

Re: origin of Toynbee surname

Posted: 9 Sep 2004 11:58PM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 10 Oct 2004 10:04PM GMT
Surnames: Toynbee
Just caught up with the ancestry.com boards for the first time, although I've been in touch with Claire Toynbee in Canada for years. When I was in Oslo a few years ago I saw there was a suburb which sounded like Toynbee is pronounced. I also know that there is a Danish sociologist whose name sounds like mine (I'm a sociologist too). I'm pretty sure that we went to England from Denmark or possibly Norway.

I am interested in your Toynbees. I did notice the name Goulding among some of your messages. There were Toynbee Gouldings in Coleby Lincolnshire. Some of them went to London I think.
per page

Find a board about a specific topic