The Surname Gines

Gines is a name with Welsh, English, German, and Spanish origins, depending on the particular family. The name developed in different ways, at different times, in different parts of the world. It is related linguistically to many other names. For example, the Welsh-English variant may be derived from the English Johns. Some scholars believe that the Welsh names Joynes and Jones are variants of Johns. The name Gines may have developed thusly:

JOHNS---->JOYNES----->JOINES----->JONES----->JINES----->GINES

Evidence of this appears in some early North American public records wherein members of a single family are sometimes surnamed differently as Joines, Joynes, or Gines. For example, the 1787 tax records of Rowan County, North Carolina list an Ezekiel Jones, apparently referring to Ezekiel Joines. This man's son appears in the same records under the name "Jines." Other variations of the English surname include Goins, Goines, and Gaines. (For more on the example cited, see the excellent work on the Descendants of Ezekiel Joines.).

By the way, despite the possible English root with a "J," the American Gines families (except the Hispanic-derived ones), generally pronounce the name with a hard "G."

The Spanish version of Gines is Gines. The name makes its most notorious appearance in Spanish as the moniker of the ringleader of a gang of condemned galley slaves in the novel Don Quixote. Of course, the Spanish Gines is not a homonym of the Welsh-English or German name of similar spelling.

EARLY AMERICAN SETTLERS: The Maryland State Archives record one Joel Gines as the owner of 208 acres in Anne Arundel County in 1787. The 1810 Federal Census has John Gines in Johnston County, North Carolina. These early settlers may have come from Warwickshire, England, the county which includes Loxley (Robin Hood's birthplace in legend), Stratford-upon-Avon (where Shakespeare lived) and, more importantly today, Birmingham.

In America today, there are at least five Gines family groups. The Midwestern Gines families are largely descendants of German and English immigrants in Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. Their genealogy has been well-documented by Ron Gines. (Ron and his mother, Wanda L. Gines, have published a two-volume book called Our Brink Heritage ([1998] Gynzer Publishing, Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 98-71249, ISBN 1-57502-784-4), available at most libraries.)

The LDS Gines families are centered in Utah and Idaho. They were among the founders of the LDS community in Woodland, Utah. These families comprise the largest Gines family group in America today. They trace their origins to the German-English Midwestern Gines family group.

The African-American Gines families can be found in the Midwest, the South, and Texas.

The Latino or Hispanic Gines families are of two sub-groups: one is centered in the Southwest and is mainly of Mexican descent; the other is found in the urban areas of the Eastern United States, being primarily of recent Puerto Rican ancestry.

There is an Asian-Pacific Islander Gines family group consisting of Filipino-descended individuals. They are concentrated on the west coast and in Hawaii. Like the Latino Gines families, the Filipino Gines families trace their roots to Spain.

MY FAMILY: Also now located primarily in the Midwest, my Gines family ranges from Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi to Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri to Minnesota. This American family seems to have begun in the Carolinas and migrated to Louisiana. Mostly African-American, this family has a strong record of achievement and service, counting among its members clergymen, teachers, lawyers, entrepreneurs, military officers, media executives, physicians, and community leaders.