Quimby - what does Quimby surname mean? Recorded in the various
spellings of Quimby, Quinby, Quenby, and Quemby, this is a
locational English surname which originates from a village
called Quenby in the county of Leicestershire. The village name
and hence the surname is of 7th century Olde English origins,
but with a later Danish-Viking overlap. The translation is from
the words `Cwene-berg` and means `The Queen`s Manor`, although
the `berg` was later transmuted to the Danish `bi` meaning farm.
The first known official recording is that in the 1086 Domesday
Book when it appears as `Queneberie` becoming Quenby in the
records of the year 1242. Who the original Queen was who held
this manor is unknown, but no doubt it was associated with the
kingdom of Mercia. The recordings of the surname are much later
and like most locational surnames refer initially to the lord of
the manor. Whether the later nameholders are decended from him
or whether they assumed their name when they moved elsewhere
from the village, can