Keynes family


The Keynes family is an English family that has included several notable economists, writers, and actors, including the economist John Maynard Keynes.

History

The English surname Keynes is derived from a Norman place name, either Cahagnes or Cahaignes, which are documented as places of origin of people of this name or possibly also from similar placenames not so documented. Both Cahaignes and Cahagnes share the same etymology. Cahagnes is mentioned as Kahaniis in 1182-1189 ; Cahannes, Cahaines in 1195 ; Kahaignae in 1203. The most probable origin is Late Latin capanna / *cavanna, same as French cabane "cabin, hut, shack; shed" and English cabane / cabin, both from French. This etymology is supported by the phonetic evolution in French of common nouns such as tabonem > taon "horsefly, gadfly" or pavonem > paon "peafowl".
The earliest documented person in England bearing the name was William de Cahaignes from Normandy who was born around 1035. Of another Norman William de Cahaignes, Katharine Keats-Rohan writes:- "Norman, from Cahaignes, Calvados, arrondissement Vire, canton Aunay-sur-Odon, although in fact the place in Calvados is called Cahagnes and confused with Cahaignes in the Eure département. Major tenant of Robert, Count of Mortain in several Domesday counties. He was Sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1086, and again in the early years of Henry I. His widow Adelicia made a grant for his soul to Lewes priory, with the assent of their son Hugh. His lands were divided between his three sons, of whom Hugh held the forest of Northamptonshire in 1129/30."

Variant forms of the surname

Surname variants include Koine, De Keynes, Keynes, de Cayenes, Caynes, Caines, Cahaignes. The forms Casneto, Caisned, Casineto, Cheyney, Cheney, Chaney, Chaineis result of a confusion with a place called Chesney cf. modern French chênaie "oak grove".

Places in England bearing the name Keynes

The following places were named after the de Cahaignes or Keynes family who held many manors in the years following the Norman Conquest:

Notable persons surnamed Keynes

See Keynes (disambiguation).