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The surname Diskins is synonymous with Deskins and is believed to have derived from the Irish Discin or O'Discin . The Diskin surname is also seen as Daskins and Duskins on some documents and most likely is simply misspelling based on the sound of the name . The name shows in colonial Virginia records as early as the 1600's as Diskin or Diskins and apparently succeeding generations replaced the i with an e and added an s on the end . Interestingly enough there is no known record of the Diskin/Deskins arrival on available ship lists or ports of entry that i have seen as early as the 1600's though it is know they were present early on . The earliest document i have seen was dated 1666 and involved a transfer of land from a Coleman to a Diskin and a 1727 land grant in Northern Neck Virginia granted to a John Deskins . By the late 1700's the name shows frequently in the south-western counties of Virginia but connecting to the eastern Virginia Diskin/Deskins line is sometimes an exercise in futility based on my experience .
Early Documentation : The first record of the Diskin surname in Virginia appears in Old Rappahannock County , Virginia on 17 February 1659 involving a land transaction . " On 17 Feb. 1659, Daniel Diskin with fellow Irishmen Daniell Ryly, Darby Bryant and Daniell Swillivant acquired from John Paine for a valuable consideration 300 acres on Perpeticke Cree in Rappahannock County " . In 1662 the land was given back to Payne - Susan Ryley, wife of Daniell Ryley, and Eliza Sillyven, wife of Daniell Sillyven, 'do freely give consents unto the return and sale of the land' to John Payne. There was no consent given by a Diskin spouse so Diskin may have been single or widowed at that time .
Supposition on my part but the Daniel Diskin mentioned above was probably the Daniel Diskin b 1595 - 1620 that had the close family relationship with the Richard Coleman family of the 1666 date previously mentioned . Coleman was known to have transported at least twenty one people from England to colonial Virginia between 1651 - 1654 for which he received numerous tracts of land . In fact , it is not known exactly when Coleman himself first came to America . Though no documentation appears to exist proving the idea i am inclined to believe that the Diskin surname came to America under "headright" status .
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