ChiefsPlanet - Football **** Official 2023 College Football Thread****

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hark Clunt (Post 17168556)

how is "penix" a real last name.

Apparently, it is Cornish in origin.

Quote:

The illustrious surname Penix finds its origin in the rocky, sea swept coastal area of southwestern England known as Cornwall. Although surnames were fairly widespread in medieval England, people were originally known only by a single name. The process by which hereditary surnames were adopted is extremely interesting. As populations grew, people began to assume an extra name to avoid confusion and to further identify themselves. Under the Feudal System of government, surnames evolved and they often reflected life on the manor and in the field. Lords and their tenants often became known by the name of the feudal territory they owned or lived on. Unlike most Celtic peoples, who favored patronymic names, the Cornish predominantly used local surnames. This was due to the heavy political and cultural influence of the English upon the Cornish People at the time that surnames first came into use. Local surnames were derived from where a person lived, held land, or was born. While many Cornish surnames of this sort appear to be topographic surnames, which were given to people who resided near physical features such as hills, streams, churches, or types of trees, many are actually habitation surnames derived from lost or unrecorded place names. The name Penix is a local type of surname and the Penix family lived in Cornwall, in the parish of St. Pinnock.

"Although this parish has its name graced with the prefix of saint, no records were ever known to have preserved his history. The name is in general supposed to be secular, to be founded upon local circumstances, and to have no immediate reference either to its church or tutelary guardian. At a time when Cornwall teemed with saints both native and imported, it seemed dishonorable for any district to be without one. Where a real one could not be procured, an artificial one might easily be found to supply his place. But even this easy mode was still capable of improvement. The situation of St. Pinnock is in the deanery and hundred of West. It lies about eight miles east-north-east from Lostwithiel, and about four west-south-west from Liskeard."

Two sources claims the name could have been derived from the Middle English word "pinnock," meaning "hedge-sparrow."

https://www.houseofnames.com/amp/penix-family-crest