Pinkerton

English Etymology Habitational surname from a place near en Dunbar, from an unexplained first element + en ang tūn enclosure. This surname is well established in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Pronunciation en /ˈpɪŋkətən/ RP en /ˈpɪŋkɚtən/ GA Proper noun s en habitational Old English. Statistics According to the 2010 United States Census, Pinkerton is the 4193rd most common surname in the United States, belonging to 8446 individuals. Pinkerton is most common among White (90.99%) individuals. Noun en dated countable An operative employed by the Pinkerton (detective agency) Pinkerton National Detective Agency founded by Allan Pinkerton (1819–1884). en 1912 w:Alexander Berkman Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist 6 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. en 4 Sep 1950 Kiss the Donkey https://web.archive.org/web/20090122112210/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,856726,00.html 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 en Pinkertonian Pinkertonism Pinkerton syndrome Further reading