The Pinckney surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 6,800 people carried this name — #5,147 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 43,300 people counted. That is up 11% from 6,126 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Pinckney surname

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a local name, from where the family lived: ‘de Pincheni’.

An early record he cites: Henry de Pinkeni, Buckinghamshire, 1273 — Hundred Rolls.

His entry covers Pinkney and Pinckney.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 607 · public domain.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

25 families named Pinckney, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 155 people lived in those households, 6.2 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 2 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

New York 15
South Carolina 9
Rhode Island 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 257 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Pinckney in American newspapers,
1908–1909.

Newspaper page from The Salt Lake Herald carrying the name Pinckney
The Salt Lake Herald 1908-09-06
Newspaper page from The Salt Lake Herald carrying the name Pinckney
The Salt Lake Herald 1908-03-29
Newspaper page from The Durham Recorder carrying the name Pinckney
The Durham Recorder 1909-11-18

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 49,949 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Pinckney in Australian newspapers,
1850s–1950s.

369 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Pinckney. The most, 91, date from the 1930s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in Victoria, at 2.1 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Victoria 169
New South Wales 115
South Australia 40
Queensland 24
Western Australia 9
Tasmania 8
ACT (Canberra) 1

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Pinckney.

Who carried it

People named Pinckney,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Charles Pinckney
    Charles Pinckney 1699–1758 · judge
  • Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
    Charles Cotesworth Pinckney 1746–1825 · lawyer
  • Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
    Charles Cotesworth Pinckney 1746–1825 · lawyer
  • Thomas Pinckney
    Thomas Pinckney 1750–1828 · captain
  • Georgiana Pinckney d. 1902
  • Frances Edith Pinckney d. 1945

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Pinckney,
in the records of 4 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States653 records

653 records of the Pinckney name in the United States
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 286
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 180
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 104
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 66
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 8
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 8
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Ezekiel Pinckney

    Born 1918 in South Carolina. Enlisted 1941 at Fort Jay Governors Island, New York; painter. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1991, buried at Calverton National Cemetery, New York.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Charlotte Pinckney

    Arrived at New York in 1875 aboard the Bothnia from Liverpool, aged 36; matron. From England.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)
  3. A U.S. Army record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864
    Example: U.S. burial record, 1864
    Burial record Benjamin Leroy Pinckney

    U.S. Navy veteran. Born 1959, died 1986; buried at Beaufort National Cemetery, South Carolina.

    U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)

Showing 3 of 653 records for Pinckney in the United States.

Counts: NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain).

Australia38 records

38 records of the Pinckney name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 22
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 13
  • Tasmanian Names Index 3
  1. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Regd Pinckney

    Arrived in Victoria in 1886 aboard the Garonne, aged 26; English.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Charles Henry Pinckney

    Gentleman of Moreland, Victoria; died 1960.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record James Pinckney

    Died 1878 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 65.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 38 records for Pinckney in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Canada20 records

20 records of the Pinckney name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 19
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 1
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record William Dunbar Pinckney

    Died 1935 in Chebogue, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  2. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record John Wadham Pinckney

    Died 1918; buried at Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, British Columbia.

    City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver.
  3. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Mary Alice Pinckney

    Married 1907 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.

Showing 3 of 20 records for Pinckney in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

United Kingdom2 records

2 records of the Pinckney name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 1
  • St James's burial ground, Euston (London), 1789–1853 1
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record J. Pinckney

    Royal Sussex Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1917.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Showing 1 of 2 records for Pinckney in the United Kingdom.

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Pinckney.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Pinckney is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

See the Pinckney volume
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