Wimborne Family History

From Wimborne Minster Wimborne Saint Giles or Monkton Up Wimborne (Dorset) all recorded as Winburne in 1086. The place-names derive from Old English *winn *wynne ‘pasture meadow’ + burna ‘spring stream’. Given the high concentration of some variants such as Winborn and Winbourne in Sussex perhaps also a late development of a surname from Wenbons Farm in Wadhurst (Sussex) which is recorded as Wembourn in 1461.

With early bearers of this name appearing in records such as [... de] Wanesburn 1271 [... de] Wenneburn 1288 in Assize Rolls (Sussex), the historical relevancy of these names is significant. The place-name derives from an Old English personal name *Wænna + Old English burna ‘spring stream’.