The Gaskin Family in Our Kentish Genealogy
There are approximately 4,008 people named Gaskin in the UK. Approximatel 63 out of every million people in the UKare named Gaskin.
"The surname itself derives from the Anglo-French "Gascon", Middle English "Gasco(u)", a Gascon, or native of Gascony, and early examples of the name from English records include: William le Gascun (Yorkshire, 1208), and Thomas Gaskyn (Suffolk, 1524). In the modern idiom the surname is spelt: Gascoigne, Gascoin(e), Gascoyne, Gaslain, Gasken, Gaskin and Gasking. ... The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Bernard Gasco, which was dated 1206, in the "Curia Regis Rolls of Northamptonshire", during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216." - The Internet Surname Database
Henry II obtained Gascony through his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine, in 1152, and the province remained an English possession until 1453. Thus it should not be a surprise that Gaskin, or Gascoyne, means "a native of Gascony" and it appears in English records as early as 1206. (Reaney & Wilson, A DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH SURNAMES).