Family name origins & meanings
- English (of Norman origin) : habitational name from Picquigny in Somme, named with a Germanic personal name, Pincino (of obscure derivation) + the Latin locative suffix -acum.
- A prominent SC family of English ancestry, Pinckneys were living in Charleston by the 18th century, including Eliza Lucas Pinckney (1722–93), who introduced indigo to the colony in 1738. Her sons were prominent in politics, with Charles Pinckney, George Washington’s aide and candidate for U.S. president in 1804 and 1808, and Thomas Pinckney, governor of SC.