Barnum
One-Name Study

Topics

• About the Barnum One-Name Study
• Variants
• Origin of the surname
• Historical occurrences
• Frequency of the name
• Distribution of the name
• Data
• DNA project
• Links
• Contact Details

About the Barnum One-Name Study

Nearly 50 years ago, when I first began to study the genealogy of my family in the United States, the sources available to me were relatively few. In developing the history of my paternal line of descent, I first relied heavily on the memories of my grandfather and his contemporaries. Later, as I became more familiar with the available genealogical resources, I began to add information from state and county vital records and from church records. Still, the process was laborious and I was often at a loss to know where to look next.

With the advent of computers and the Internet, the task became a bit easier, although the danger of relying on poorly-researched and often undocumented family genealogies quickly became apparent. Finally, almost by chance, I discovered a copy of the 'Genealogical Record of the Barnum Family, Presenting a Conspectus of the Male Descendants of Thomas Barnum 1625-1695', published in 1912 by Eben Lewis Barnum and Francis Barnum, SJ. Shortly afterward, when I also unearthed photocopies of 'The Barnum Family, 1517-1903' and 'The Barnum Family, 1350-1907', by Noah Greeley Barnum, my genealogical orientation changed dramatically.

From the original search for my own lines of descent, I broadened my study to include the entire BARNUM/BARNAM/BARNHAM family, and for the past 25 years or more that broader study has taken precedence over research into my other lines of descent.

One result of that reorientation was the development of the Barnum Family Genealogy website www.barnum.org. That website was developed as a means of sharing information about Barnum lines of descent from our early English forbears down to the present, and of providing a place for living members of the Barnum family to add their own information. As a result of my own studies, and thanks to many other Barnum family members, relations and others who have unselfishly shared their own information and research (both written and electronic) for the benefit of other researchers, the Barnum Family Genealogy now contains entries for nearly 18,000 individuals.

Variants

The surname BARNUM also includes the variants BARNAM and BARNHAM. No connection whatever has been found between the surname BARNHAM and the similar-sounding surname BURNHAM.

Origin of the surname

The surname BARNHAM originated in England, and descendants of the immigrant ancestor in North America have also used the spellings BARNAM and BARNUM. The last of these is by far the most common in North America today, while BARNHAM continues to be the most common spelling in England.

Sir Francis Barnham, MP, (1576-1646) discussed in his journal the origin of the surname Barnham. He stated, “Our Name as we have it by tradition, strengthened with probable circumstances, and some good records (which I have heard some of my friends say they have seene) was first gentilized, or at least advanced, by Sir Walter Barnham, a Baron of the Exchequer in the time of King Richard II, and soe continued in a flowrishinge estate (at a place called Barnham in Suffolke not far from Thetford, where divers descents of them lye now buried) till the time of King Henry VII, all which I have received from my grandmother, father, and uncles, whoe spake it with much confidence, as being delivered to them, by theire friends of the former age, and the truth of it assured by divers records, however it is not that which I will binde on as an infallible truth, because I my self have not seene that which may soe absolutly assure it, and because I for myne owne parte care not to fetch a pedegree farther then from the certaine memory of a grandfather that was rich and honest, and a father that was vertuous and wise;....”

The Barnham surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name for any of the towns or villages called Barnham in the English counties of Sussex, Norfolk and Staffordshire. Locational surnames were derived from—and originally designated—the place of residence of the bearer. They were employed in France at an early date (e.g., La Porte “at the entrance to”) and were introduced into England by the Norman conquerors, many of whom were known by the titles of their estates.

Barnham in Sussex is recorded as “Berneham” in the Domesday Book of 1086, while the two places in Norfolk and Staffordshire appear in the same source as “Bernham”. All of these places have the same derivation. That is: a combination of the pre-7th-Century Old English by-name Beorn, from beorn (Old Norse, barn), a warrior, with the Old English suffix “ham”, meaning homestead or village.

In addition to being the Old English word for warrior (or freeman in Anglo-Saxon society), Beorn was also a name used by some noblemen (since “nobleman” was an alternate meaning). It is related to the Scandinavian names Björn (Swedish) and Bjørn (Norwegian and Danish), meaning bear. The word baron also developed from Beorn.

Thus the essential meaning of BARNHAM in Old English was “the homestead (-ham) of the family or followers of a man called Beorn”.

Historical occurrences

During the Middle Ages, when migration for the purpose of job-seeking was becoming common, people often took their former village name with them as a means of identification, resulting in a wide dispersal of the name. Early examples include Walter de Bernham, mentioned in the Hundred Rolls of Suffolk in 1273, and John de Bernham, in the Book of Fees of Kent in 1293. Benedict Barnham is recorded in 1572 in the Register of Oxford University. Sir Francis Barnham, M.P. (1577-1646), supported the parliamentarians in the Civil War.

An early coat of arms granted to the family was blazoned: Argent, a cross gules between four crescents gules; Crest: A crescent gules between two laurel branches in orle proper. It is not known whether a motto accompanied this blazoning of arms, although later members of the family used the motto: Per Crucem ad Lumen — “Through the Cross to the Light”.

The first recorded spelling of the family name is that of Simon de Bernham, which was dated 1273, in the “Hundred Rolls of Norfolk”, during the reign of King Edward I (reigned 1272-1307).

Frequency of the name

Our surname and its variants represent an extremely small portion of the population of the United States and England, the two countries where they are now most heavily concentrated.

In the US, no occurrences of the spellings BARNAM and BARNHAM have been found in recent searches. BARNUM is the 5,424th most popular surname in that country, representing only 0.002 percent of the total population.

In England, no occurrence of the surname BARNAM has been found, while BARNHAM is the 10,846th most popular surname, representing less than 0.002 percent of the population (532 occurrences among 170,000 surnames). BARNUM is the 73,149th most popular surname in England, applying to less than 0.0002 percent of the population (28 occurrences).

Distribution of the name

In earliest times, the surname BARNHAM was to be found in the Greater London area and the east of England, primarily Norfolk, Suffolk and Kent. Today, our surname is spread more broadly, with concentrations being found in and around Greater London, Colchester, Norwich, Rochester, Kingston-upon-Thames, Lancaster and Carlisle.

The descendants of the immigrant ancestor Thomas Barnum (1635-1695) may be found throughout the Americas, although concentrated primarily in The US and Canada. They now considerably outnumber those Barnum/Barnham descendants remaining in the British Isles. During the early history of the US, most bearers of the surname BARNUM could be found in in the northeastern states of Connecticut ('The Cradle of the Barnum Family in the US'), Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York and later Pennsylvania and Ohio. Later, with the westward expansion of the country, they spread to virtually every state. The greatest concentrations of the BARNUM surname in the US today are to be found in Oregon, Nevada and Wyoming, with smaller concentrations in Connecticut, Vermont, Michigan, Utah, Kansas and Arkansas.

Interestingly, several “Mexican” lines of descent have recently been discovered. That is, over the years several Barnum males have moved to Mexico, married Mexican wives and started lines of descent that now include several generations of descendants born in Mexico who speak only Spanish. Barnum lines of descent also exist in Australia, Tasmania and New South Wales—in some cases apparently the descendants of convicts transported from England during the 19th century.

Data

Information included on the Barnum Family Genealogy website www.barnum.org, an adjunct to this page, is drawn from 1,506 separate sources and complete source citations are given for each individual represented.

DNA project

A Barnum Family DNA Project exists and is registered with Family Tree DNA. You may find and review any completed DNA tests at the YSearch website by pointing your browser to:

http://www.ysearch.org/lastname_start.asp?uid= and entering the surname for which you wish information.

For information about the Barnum Family DNA Project at Family Tree DNA, and instructions for joining that project, point your browser to this link:

http://www.familytreedna.com/name_search.aspx?search=SearchName&surname=gSurName&value=Barnum%&type=bw

While using the services of Family Tree DNA will facilitate ease of comparison among the various individuals and family groups, it is not my intent to mandate the use of that service. There are other reputable companies providing these tests and the quality of service of several of the largest of them appears to be high. There are some price differences, along with some variance in the markers tested, turn-around time, and other features offered. However, as long as enough markers are tested at the twenty-three-marker level and above, adequate comparisons and analyses may be made.

Based upon the studies completed to date, bearers of the the BARNUM surname belong to Haplogroup R1b1b2, which represents Anglo-Norman descent. The present-day population of R1b in Western Europe and the British Isles is believed to consist of descendants of a refugium in the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Spain), where the R1b1b2 haplogroup may have achieved genetic homogeneity. As climatic conditions eased with the Allerod Oscillation (warming trend) in about 12,000 BC, descendants of this group migrated and eventually recolonised all of Western Europe and the British Isles, leading to the dominant position of R1b in variant degrees from Iberia to Scandinavia, so evident in modern haplogroup maps.

Links

Barnum Family Genealogy www.barnum.org

Contact details

For further information, contact:

Dr Patrick W Barnum
Blvd Jardin Real 975-149 (Coto 4),
Col Jardin Real,
Zapopan,
Jalisco
45136
Mexico
E-mail:

This page last updated 13 January 2012.

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Profiles of other one-name studies registered with the Guild may be found here.