Pinkerton

English

Etymology

Habitational surname from a place near Dunbar, from an unexplained first element + Old English tūn (“enclosure”). This surname is well established in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Proper noun

Pinkerton (plural Pinkertons)

1. A habitational surname from Old English.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Pinkerton is the 4193^rd most common surname in the United States, belonging to 8446 individuals. Pinkerton is most common among White (90.99%) individuals.

Noun

Pinkerton (plural Pinkertons)

1. (dated, countable) An operative employed by the Pinkerton National Detective Agency founded by Allan Pinkerton (1819–1884).
   • 1912, Alexander Berkman, chapter 6, in Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist:

     My heart wells up in admiration of the man, as I think of his participation in the memorable struggle of Homestead. He fought the Pinkertons, the myrmidons of Capital.

   • 1950 September 4, “Kiss the Donkey”, in Time:

     He joined the pickets in the bloody Homestead steel strike of 1892, and actually went so far as to jostle a Pinkerton.

Derived terms

• Pinkertonian
• Pinkerton syndrome

 

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Pinkerton”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 3, New York City: Oxford University Press, →ISBN.