Origin
Bon : 1: French: approbatory (or ironic) nickname from Old French bon ‘good’ (from Latin bonus). Compare Lebon.2: French: from the Latin personal name Bonus meaning ‘good’ (see Bono).3: Hungarian: from a short form of the personal name Bonifác (see Boniface).4: Altered form of German Bonn.5: Spanish: regional equivalent of Bueno.6: Italian (Veneto and Friuli): regional variant of Bono. It is also found in Slovenia (see 8 below) and Croatia.7: Slovenian: from the old personal name Bon Latin Bonus (see above) or from an old short form of the personal name Bonifac(ij) Latin Bonifatius (see Boniface).8: Slovenian: nickname from Venetian and Friulian bon ‘good’ also ‘good fellow’ (compare Bonin and 6 above).9: Dutch: from a variant of the personal name Boon 2.10: Vietnamese (Bốn): written 本 in Chinese of unexplained etymology.
Barbon : 1: English: habitational name from Barbon in Westmorland. The placename is probably from Old Norse bjórr ‘beaver’ + brunnr ‘stream’ alternatively from Old English bera ‘bear’ + burna ‘stream’.2: English: nickname from Middle English bare bon ‘bare bone’ perhaps denoting a thin or bare-legged man.3: French and English (of French Huguenot origin): nickname for a bearded man from an augmentative of French Barbe.
Bohnhoff : German: habitational name from either of two places near Siegburg (Rhineland) or in Bavaria from any of several other minor localities in the same area. The second element is Middle Low German hof ‘court farmstead manor farm’ (see Hoff); the first is probably from bōne ‘bean’ a staple item of diet in the Middle Ages; alternatively it may be from a personal name with the common ancient Germanic element Bon cognate with Old English Buna. Compare Bonham 2.
Bomier : 1: Americanized form of French Canadian Beaumier. Compare Bomia.2: In some cases possibly also French: derivative of the ancient Germanic personal name Bonmar composed of the elements bon ‘good’ (from Latin bonus) and mar ‘famous’. This surname is very rare in France.
Bompas : from Old French bon pas ‘good pace’. Compare Lightfoot Golightly.
Bondi : 1: Italian: from the personal name Bondí an omen or well-wishing name from buon di ‘good day’ (see Bonadio).2: Italian: from a shortened form of the personal name Abbondio from the Latin personal name Abundius from abundus ‘abundant’.3: Italian (Tuscany): from a short form of any of various personal names beginning with Bond- for example Bondelmonte.4: Hungarian: patronymic from the old personal name Bond.5: Jewish: from the Italian Jewish personal name B(u)ondí (see 1 above) and Sephardic personal name Bondia from Catalan bon dia both meaning ‘good day’ and used as calques of the Hebrew personal name Yom tov ‘Jewish holiday’ (literally ‘good day’).
Bondurant : Altered form of French Bondurand: nickname from bon ‘good’ + the personal name Durand literally ‘good Durand’. Compare Bundren and Bundrant.
Bone : 1: English (of Norman origin): nickname meaning ‘good’ from Middle English bon(e) boun Old French bon ‘good’.2: English: possibly a nickname from Middle English bone ‘bone leg’ (Old English bān; compare Bain 3) used of someone with a bad leg or long legs.3: English: variant of Boone 1.4: Slovenian: from a short form of the personal name Bonifac(ij) (from Latin Bonifatius; see Boniface) or from a pet form of the personal name Bon 7.5: Hungarian (Bóné): from bóné denoting a particular kind of fishing net hence a metonymic occupational name for a fisherman or perhaps for a maker of such nets.
Bonello : 1: Italian: from a diminutive of Bono.2: Scottish (Fife and Clackmannanshire): habitational name from Bonaly in Midlothian or a lost Banaley in Fife. These were probably named with Middle Scots bonalai bonnaillie from French bon ‘good’ + aller ‘to go’ i.e. ‘good speed farewell!’ as in ‘to drink one's bonallie’ and thus a Scottish equivalent of the English Drinkale.
Bonenfant : French: nickname probably slightly mocking in tone from Old French bon enfant ‘good child’.
Bonet : 1: Catalan: from a medieval personal name a diminutive of bon ‘good’ or the corresponding nickname.2: French: variant of Bonnet.3: Italian (northern): variant of Bonetto see Bonetti.
Bongard : 1: German: from Middle Low German bōm ‘tree’ + gard ‘garden’ hence a topographic name for someone who lived by an orchard or a nickname for someone who owned or worked in one. Compare Baumgarten.2: Dutch: variant of Bogard or Bogaard cognates of 1.3: French: habitational name from a minor locality named with bon ‘good’ + gard the objective case of Old French gardin ‘garden’.
Bongiovanni : Italian: from a personal name composed of the elements bon ‘good’ + Giovanni an equivalent of John.
Bonham : English (of Norman origin):: 1: nickname from Old French bon homme ‘good man’ (from Latin bonus homo) or from a Middle English personal name of the same etymology.2: possibly also a habitational name from Bonham in Stourton (Wiltshire) which is likely manorial in origin taking its name from that of an early owner with the same name as in 1 above.
Boniface : 1: English (Sussex) and French: from the personal name Boniface (from Latin Bonifatius a compound of bonum ‘good’ + fatum ‘fate destiny’; see also Bonifacio). Bonifatius was the name of the Roman military governor of North Africa in 422–32 who was a friend of Saint Augustine. It was also borne by various early Christian saints and was adopted by nine popes. One of the noted early Christian saints of this name (c. 675–754) was born in Devon and martyred in Friesland after evangelical work among ancient Germanic tribes; he is one of the Ice Saints (see Pankratz). In Latin the name was given chiefly to ecclesiastics rarely to men of the lower orders and Boniface was never very popular in England. In the Isle of Wight its use was possibly encouraged by a cult of Saint Boniface at Bonchurch.2: English: perhaps sometimes also a nickname from Anglo-Norman French bon enfas ‘good child’ with enfas as occasional nominative case for enfant understood by clerks as if the Christian saint's name Boniface (see 1 above). Compare Goodchild.
Bonifant : English: nickname from a Middle English borrowing of Old French bon enfant ‘good child’. Compare Goodchild.
Bonn : 1: English: variant of Bone.2: German: habitational name from Bonn on the Rhine.3: German: from a short form of an ancient Germanic personal name such as Bonhard formed with the element bon ‘request petition’ (compare Latin bonus).
Bonnamy : from Old French bon ami ‘good friend’.
Bonner : 1: English: from Middle English boner(e) bonour ‘gentle courteous’ (Old French bonnaire shortened from debonnaire). This surname is also common in Ireland where it was adopted for Ó Cnáimhsighe see Bonar 2.2: Welsh: Anglicized form of Welsh ap Ynyr ‘son of Ynyr’ a common medieval personal name derived from Latin Honorius with fused patronymic marker (a)p normally voiced before a vowel.4: German (also Bönner): from a short form of the ancient Germanic personal name Bonhard formed with the element bon ‘request petition’ (compare Latin bonus). This surname is also found in Sweden.3: German: habitational name for someone from Bonn on the Rhine.
Bonnin : 1: French: from a pet form of Bon. In North America this surname is also an altered form of the variant Bonin.2: Catalan: nickname from bon nin ‘good child’ found especially in the Balearic Isles.3: Italian: variant of Bonin and Bonino probably of French origin (see 1 above).
Bonning : 1: English (Somerset): perhaps an altered form of the rare surname Bonnan from Middle English bon ‘bone’ + Middle English hand ‘hand’ or with Old French bon ‘good’ as the first element.2: North German (Bönning): habitational name from a place called Bönnien near Hildesheim (Lower Saxony).3: North German (Bönning): variant of Böhning (see Bohning 2) a patronymic from the personal name Bohn 1.
Bonser : English:: 1: variant of Bonsall.2: nickname from Old French and Middle English bon sire ‘good sir’ given either to a fine gentleman (perhaps ironically) or to someone who made frequent use of this term of address. Compare Bowser 1.
Bonsignore : Italian: nickname from bon signore ‘good sir’ probably bestowed on someone who was or aspired to be a fine gentleman or to someone who made frequent use of this expression as a term of address.
Bontemps : French Haitian and Mauritian: nickname for a happy or goodheartet man from bon temps ‘good time’ or from a (medieval) personal name of the same origin (see Italian Bontempo).
Bonvalet : from Old French bon + va(s)let ‘good servant’. It is recorded in medieval England but it seems to have died out by the 16th century. The modern family name is a later introduction from France.
Bonvillain : French: nickname from Old French bon ‘good’ + vilain ‘farmer’.
Boone : 1: English (of Norman origin): habitational name from Bohon in La Manche France of obscure etymology.2: English (of Norman origin): from Middle English bon(e) boun Old French bon ‘good’. Compare Bone 1.3: Dutch: variant of Boon.
Bumpus : English: nickname of Norman origin for someone who was a swift walker from Old French bon ‘good’ + pas ‘pace’.
Bunclark : denoting ‘(the) good clerk’ Old French bon + clerc.
Bungard : 1: German: variant of Bongard.2: Altered form of Danish Bundgaard Bundgård: habitational name from any of numerous farms so named.3: English (Sussex; of French origin): either a patronymic ‘(son) of Bongars’ a nickname from Old French bon + gars ‘good servant’ or a habitational name referring to an unidentified Norman farmstead or hamlet named with Old French bon ‘good’ + gard ‘garden’.
Bunker : 1: English: nickname of Norman origin for a reliable or good-hearted person from Old French bon ‘good’ + cuer ‘heart’ (from Latin cor).2: German (Bünker): variant of Bönker (see Boenker).
Bunning : 1: German (Bünning): patronymic from the personal name Buno. Compare Buenning.2: English (Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire): variant of Bonning perhaps an adaptation of the now rare surname Bonnan from Middle English bon ‘bone’ + Middle English hand ‘hand’ or with Old French bon ‘good’ as the first element.
Dubon : 1: Spanish (Dubón): possibly of French origin (see 2 below).2: French: patronymic with fused preposition and definite article du ‘of the’ from the epithet Le Bon ‘the good’ (see Bon).
Gallatin : Swiss French: from a derivative of Old French gal(l)e ‘rejoicing pleasure entertainment’ used as a nickname for a bon vivant.
Galle : 1: German: variant of Gall or a nickname for an evil person from Middle High German galle ‘bile bitterness falsehood’.2: Flemish: from the personal name Galle a Romance or French form of ancient Germanic Wal(l)o ‘man from Wallonia’.3: French: nickname for a cheerful lively person a bon vivant from Old French gal(l)e ‘rejoicing pleasure entertainment’. Compare 4 below.4: French (Gallé): nickname related to 3 above from the past participle of the Old French verb gal(l)er ‘to enjoy oneself to have fun’.5: Danish and Swedish: perhaps from an old byname Galle believed to derive from Old Danish and Old Swedish galle ‘fault defect’.6: Americanized or Germanized form of Slovenian Gale.
Gallois : French:: 1: nickname for a bon vivant Old French galois.2: perhaps also an ethnic name from gallois ‘Welsh’. Compare Galles.
Goodwater : 1: Americanized form of French Bonneau translated into English as if it were composed of the elements bon ‘good’ and eau ‘water’ (which may indeed be the meaning of the placename Bonneau).2: In some cases probably also an Americanized form (translation into English) of German Gutwasser: habitational name from any of numerous places in Bohemia and Moravia named for their supply of good water.
Hitchborn : apparently from Middle English hicchen ‘to move to jump to move with jerks’ + bon ‘bone’ in some undetermined sense.
Kneebone : English (Cornwall and Devon): nickname from Middle English kne(i) ‘knee’ + bon ‘bone’ (Old English cnēow + bān). Compare Knee.
Kniskern : German: nickname for a bon vivant from geniess gern ‘like(s) to indulge’.
Lebon : French: approbatory (or ironic) nickname from le bon ‘the good’ a variant of Bon with fused masculine definite article le.
Pettibone : Altered form of French Petitbon: nickname composed of the elements petit ‘small’ + bon ‘good’. This surname was brought to North America from England but is no longer found in Britain.
Ponath : German: from an ancient Germanic personal name Bonhard formed with the element bon ‘request petition’ (compare Latin bonus).
Pons : 1: Catalan French (Occitan) and Dutch: from the medieval personal name Pons (see Ponce).2: German: patronymic from a short form of an ancient Germanic personal name such as Bonhard formed with the element bon ‘request petition’ (compare Latin bonus).
Rathbun : English: nickname for someone quick on his feet from Middle English rath (Old English hræth) ‘eager swift’ + bon (Old English bān) ‘bone’ specifically here the leg bone. In some instances the name was recorded with bayn (Old Norse beinn) ‘bone leg’ in place of native English ban(e). This form of the surname is now rare in Britain.
Smallbone : from Middle English smal ‘small narrow’ + bon ban ‘bone’ (Old English bān ‘bone’ or in the northern examples Old Scandinavian beinn ‘leg bone’) perhaps for someone with a thin frame or with skinny legs. Compare for example Longbone Rabone.
Vadeboncoeur : French Canadian: soldier's name from French va de bon coeur meaning literally ‘go with good heart’ and interpreted as ‘go bravely’. Compare Goodheart 2 and Hart 6.
Vero : 1: Italian: nickname from vero ‘real true’ (from Latin verus).2: Italian: possibly from a variant of the ancient Germanic personal name Bero related to bera ‘bear’.3: Italian: possibly a habitational name from a short form of the personal name as Bonavero composed of the elements bon a variant of b(u)ono ‘good’ and avere ‘to have’ Olivero.4: Hungarian (Verő): from ver ‘hit strike’ hence an occupational name probably for a smith or someone who worked with hammer.
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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England
FANBI : The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain, ©2021, University of the West of England
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