Baines is a surname of English, Scottish or Welsh origin. It shares many of the same roots with the British surname Bains. It shares some roots with the British surname Bain.
Derivation and variants
Baines has a number of different sources, several of them nicknames and another based on an occupation. In Scotland and the north of England the Old English word bān ('bone') became Middle English bān and bain. It may have become a nickname in the plural, meaning 'bones' or '[long-]legs' (cf. modern German Bein, also meaning both "bone" and "leg"). The Middle English bayn, beyn and the Old Norse beinn meant 'straight' or 'direct', which may have become a nickname. The Middle English bayne (and French bain) meant 'bath'. This may have become an occupational surname for an attendant at a public bath.
Baines may also have Welsh roots, from the patronymic ab Einws ('son of Einws'). Einws is a shortened version of the Welsh name Ennion, meaning 'Anvil'.
Variants of the surname Baines include Bains, Banes, Baynes and Bayns.
At the time of the British Census of 1881, its relative frequency was highest in Rutland (31.2 times the British average), followed by Westmorland, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Leicestershire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Montgomeryshire and Bedfordshire.
Hanks and Hodges suggest in their "A Dictionary of Surnames" that many present day Baines descend from Robert Baines of Ipswich, Suffolk, England (born c. 1587). John Baines, Liverpool, England, Doctor of Physics.
(In alphabetical order)
Ajay Baines, Canadian ice hockey playerAnthony Baines, English musicologistProfessor Chris Baines (born 1947), English gardener, naturalist, television presenter and authorEdward Baines (1774–1848), English newspaper-proprietor and politician.Edward Baines (1800–1890), son of the above, also a nonconformist English newspaper editor and Member oF Parliament.Sir Frank Baines (1877–1933), English architectLeighton Baines (1984-present) English footballer playing for EvertonFrancis Baines (1648–1710), English JesuitSir George Grenfell-Baines, English architectGeorge Washington Baines (1809–1882), grandfather of president Lyndon Baines JohnsonGertrude Baines (1894–2009), American supercentenarian and formerly the oldest living person in the worldHarold Baines, former right fielder and designated hitter in Major League BaseballJervoise Athelstane Baines, Census Commissioner in British IndiaJohn Baines (born 1946), incumbent Professor of Egyptology at the University of Oxford.Kate Baines (born 1978), English actressLeighton Baines (born 1984) English footballerMatthew Talbot Baines (1799–1860), British lawyer and Liberal politicianNicholas M. Baines (born 1978), English keyboard player (Kaiser Chiefs)Nick Baines (bishop) (born 1957), Bishop of CroydonPaul Baines (academic) (born 1973), British marketing academicPaul Baines (footballer) (born 1972), former English footballerPeter Augustine Baines (1787–1843), English BenedictineRichard Baines, historical figure - Informant against Christopher MarloweRobert A. Baines (born 1946), former mayor of Manchester, New HampshireSteve Baines (born 1954), former English footballerThomas Baines (1820–1875), English artist and explorer.Thomas Baines (Ontario) (1799–1867), Canadian Crown Land AgentWilliam Baines (1899–1922), English pianist and composer