McBride - Bumpus Genealogy

                                 B E I S E L

Variant spelling of Beissel. (Württemberg):  from a pet form of the

Germanic personal name Biso. This German surname of BEISEL

was an occupational name for one who hunts falcons, a falconer. 

​

                               B O U L W A R E

The Boulware surname is generally thought to derived from the Old French word "boul," denoting a type of birch tree. As a name it was likely first used by someone living near such trees, or perhaps from a place name derived from the tree name. It has also been suggested that some instances of the Boulware name find their roots in the Old French word "boule" or "ball." In this case the name was likely originally a nickname for someone of a rotund shape.

                          ( https://www.houseofnames.com/boulware-family-crest )

​(BOULWARE  is spelling  from  Family  Tree  Maker )

                                         B A I R D

Scottish: occupational name from Gaelic bàrd ‘bard’, ‘poet’, ‘minstrel’, or of Gaelic Mac an Baird ‘son of the bard’.

                                      B I D D L E

English: variant of Beadle. Americanized spelling of German Bittel

or its variant Büttel.

( BIDDLE  is  spelling  from  Family  Tree  Maker )

B I T T E L  -  German (Württemberg and Swabia): occupational name for a beadle, from Middle High German bütel ‘bailiff’, ‘beadle’.

B A L Y E T T  -  Sorry, we couldn't find geographic disribution info for Balyett.

B A L Y E A T  -  Probably a variant of French Balliet.

​( BALYETT  &  BALYEAT  spellings  from  Family  Tree  Maker )

                                      B A I L L E T

Perhaps an altered spelling of French Baillet, a nickname for someone with

light-brown or reddish-brown hair, from a derivative of bai ‘bay (horse)’,

from Latin badius. Compare Baig, Baio.

                                           B A N G

​Korean: variant of Pang. Norwegian: habitational name for someone who lived at a farm named Bang, from bank ‘flat hill-top’, ‘terrace’. Danish: from Old Danish bang ‘noise’, hence a nickname for a loud or brash person. German: nickname for a timid person, from Middle High German, Middle Low German bang ‘fearful’, ‘nervous’.

                                    B I N G H A M

English: habitational name from a place in Nottinghamshire called Bingham, from an unattested Old English clan name, Binningas, or an Old English word bing ‘(a) hollow’ + Old English ham ‘homestead’. The name is also established in Ireland. Jewish (American): Americanized form of various like-sounding habitational names such as Bingenheimer.

                              B U R R I S

English: variant of Burrows. Possibly an altered form of German Börries or Borr(i)es (see Burress).

​B O R R I E S

Historically, surnames evolved as a way to sort people into groups - by occupation, place of origin, clan affiliation, patronage, parentage, adoption, and even physical characteristics (like red hair). Many of the modern surnames in the dictionary can be traced back to Britain and Ireland.

                                      Besse

Southern French: topographic name for someone who lived by a birch tree or in a birch wood, from Late Latin bettia ‘birch wood’, a word of Gaulish origin.

                                Bompasse Surname Origin

Edward Bompasse (or Bumpas, Bumpus, or Bumps) - is the immigrant ancestor of all those who bear the names Bumpas, Bumps, Bump, and other variations. Born in England, though the name is French in originally was Bon Passe, which means "Goodspeed". The Bon Passe family was originally of Perpigan, France, part of southwest France, near the Mediterranian.

​             ( http://familypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Edward_Bompasse_(1605-1693) )

 B U C H

German: topographic name for someone who lived by a beech tree or beech wood, from Middle High German buoche, or a habitational name from any of the numerous places so named with this word, notably in Bavaria and Württemberg. (The beech tree is the main tree in the forests of central Europe.) Danish: from German (see 1) or a nickname from buk ‘he goat’. Indian (Gujarat and Bombay city): Hindu (Brahman) and Parsi name of unknown meaning. Indian (Panjab): Sikh name based on the name of a Jat clan.

                              B O M P A S S E

English: nickname, of Norman origin, for someone who was a swift walker, from Old French bon ‘good’ + pas ‘pace’. It may also have been a topographic name, with the second element used in the sense ‘passageway’. Compare Malpass.

                            B R O O K S

English: from the possessive case of Brook (i.e. ‘of the brook’). Jewish (Ashkenazic): Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames. Americanized spelling of German Brucks.

                                 B R O W N

English, Scottish, and Irish: generally a nickname referring to the color of the hair or complexion, Middle English br(o)un, from Old English brun or Old French brun. This word is occasionally found in Old English and Old Norse as a personal name or byname. Brun- was also a Germanic name-forming element. Some instances of Old English Brun as a personal name may therefore be short forms of compound names such as Brungar, Brunwine, etc. As a Scottish and Irish name, it sometimes represents a translation of Gaelic Donn. As an American family name, it has absorbed numerous surnames from other languages with the same meaning.

B R O W N E

This famous surname as Browne is much associated with Ireland. It originates from the Olde English, Norse-Viking, and Anglo-Saxon pre 7th century word "brun". It was originally a nickname for either a person of brown hair or complexion, and possibly nationalistic or tribal,or for one who habitually wore brown clothing

                  ( http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Browne ) 

                                     B E N S O N

English: patronymic from the medieval personal name Benne, a pet form of Benedict (see Benn). English: habitational name from a place in Oxfordshire named Benson, from Old English Benesingtun ‘settlement (Old English tun) associated with Benesa’, a personal name of obscure origin, perhaps a derivative of Bana meaning ‘slayer’. Jewish (Ashkenazic): patronymic composed of a pet form of the personal name Beniamin (see Bien, Benjamin) + German Sohn ‘son’. Scandinavian: altered form of such names as Bengtsson, Bendtsen, patronymics from Bengt, Bendt, etc., Scandinavian forms of Benedict.

                      B A L L A R D

English and Scottish: derogatory nickname from a

derivative of bald ‘bald-headed’ 

                                         B L A C K

Scottish and English: from Middle English blak(e) ‘black’ (Old English blæc, blaca), a nickname given from the earliest times to a swarthy or dark-haired man. Scottish and English: from Old English blac ‘pale’, ‘fair’, i.e. precisely the opposite meaning to 1, and a variant of Blake 2. Blake and Black are found more or less interchangeably in several surnames and place names. English: variant of Blanc as a Norman name. The pronunciation of the nasalized vowel gave considerable difficulty to English speakers, and its quality was often ignored. Scottish and Irish: translation of various names from Gaelic dubh ‘black’ (see Duff). Danish and Swedish: generally, probably the English and Scottish name, but in some cases perhaps a variant spelling of Blak, a nickname from blak ‘black’. In some cases, a translation of various names meaning ‘black’, for example German and Jewish Schwarz.

                           B R A C K E T T

English: from Middle English, Old French brachet, denoting a type of hound. The word was also used as a term of abuse.

                                   B O Y D

This interesting surname is of Scottish and Irish origin, and is thought to be locational from the island of Bute in the Firth of Clyde; the placename being of uncertain etymology. Locational surnames were developed when former inhabitants of a place moved to another area, usually to seek work, and were best identified by the name of their birthplace. The name is very numerous in Ulster and in some cases appears as O'Boyd. There is also a Manx name which is the same as the Irish "MacElwee", but which was changed to Boyd. This name was from "MacGiolla Buidhe", meaning the yellow-haired youth's son. The modern surname can be found as Boyd, Boyde and Boyda.

( Read more: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Boyd )

                                              B O O K

Probably an Americanized spelling of German and Jewish (Ashkenazic) Buch or Buck. German: from a Germanic personal name Bogo, Old High German bogo ‘bow’ (weapon). The surname Book appears occasionally in English records; it may be a variant spelling of Buck or from the same source as 1.

                     Anatomy  of  the  " B " Surnames

                    Origin - Meanings of Surnames beginning with " B "

( Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press )

                           B E A U C H A M P

English (or Norman origin) and French: habitational name from any of several places in France, for example in Manche and Somme, that are named with Old French beu, bel ‘fair’, ‘lovely’ + champ(s) ‘field’, ‘plain’. In English the surname is generally pronounced Beecham.

B O G D E N  -  Variant of Slavic Bogdan. 

​                                               B O G D A N

​

Polish, Slovak, Slovenian (Prekmurje, i.e. easternmost Slovenia), and Serbian: from the common Slavic personal name Bogdan, bohdan composed of the elements Bog ‘God’ + dan ‘gift’. 

       This was not a Christian name sanctioned by the Orthodox Church, but was common as a familiar vernacular name, equivalent to Greek Theodoros ‘gift of God’ (see Theodore) or Theodotos ‘given by God’. As an American surname, it may also be a shortened form of any of numerous other Slavic surnames formed from this personal name. This is also found as a Romanian name. Hungarian (Bogdán): habitational name for someone from any of numerous places called Bogdány, in Abaúj, Pest, Szabolcs, and Veszprém counties, or in Máramaros, now in Romania. Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): habitational name from any of numerous places in Belarus and Poland called Bogdany.

      B A T T I N  -  English: from a pet form of  Batt

​        ( BATTIN  spelling  from  Family  Tree  Maker )

                                       B A T T

​English: like Bate, a derivative of the Middle English personal name Batte, a pet form of Bartholomew. English: possibly from a Middle English survival of an Old English personal name or byname Bata, of uncertain origin and meaning, but perhaps akin to batt ‘cudgel’ and so, as a byname, given to a thickset man or a belligerent one. English: topographic name, of uncertain meaning. That it is a topographic name seems clear from examples such as Walter atte Batte (Somerset 1327), but the meaning of the term is in doubt although it is found in medieval field names. German: from a medieval personal name (Latin Beatus ‘Blessed’), bestowed in honor of the apostle who was reputed to have brought Christianity to Switzerland and southern Germany.​​

                                   B R O N S O N

​​English: variant of Brunson.

( BRONSON  is  spelling  from  Family  Tree  Maker )

B R U N S O N

English: patronymic from Brown, either as a nickname or as an

existing surname. Formation of new surnames ending in -son

from existing surnames was a relatively common phenomenon in northwestern England. Variant of Dutch Brunsen, a patronymic from Brun.​​

                                          B L A I R

Scottish and northern Irish: habitational name from any of the numerous places in Scotland called Blair, named with Scottish Gaelic blàr (genitive blàir) ‘plain’, ‘field’, especially a battlefield (Irish blár).

​ B E D I N G F I E L D  -  English: variant spelling of Beddingfield.

( BEDINGFIELD  is  spelling  from  Family  Tree  Maker )

                             B E D D I N G F I E L D

English: habitational name for someone from Bedingfield in Suffolk. The place name is recorded in Domesday Book as Bedingefelda, from the Old English personal name Beda + the connective particle -ing- ‘associated with’, ‘named after’ + feld ‘open country’.​​

​Beachler  -  Americanized spelling of German Büchler ( see Buechler ).

​( Beachler  spelling  from  Family  Tree  Maker )

​                                     Buechler

from the common field name Büchle ‘beech stand’, the -er suffix denoting an inhabitant. from buchel ‘beech nut’, hence a metonymic occupation name for someone who owned or worked in an oil mill producing oil from beech nuts. variant of Buehler.

                                        B E S T

English, northern Irish, and French: from Middle English, Old French beste ‘animal’, ‘beast’ (Latin bestia), applied either as a metonymic occupational name for someone who looked after beasts—a herdsman— or as a derogatory nickname for someone thought to resemble an animal, i.e. a violent, uncouth, or stupid man. It is unlikely that the name is derived from best, Old English betst, superlative of good. By far the most frequent spelling of the French surname is Beste, but it is likely that in North America this form has largely been assimilated to Best. German: from a short form of Sebastian.

                                                 B E L L 

Scottish and northern English: from Middle English belle ‘bell’, in various applications; most probably a metonymic occupational name for a bell ringer or bell maker, or a topographic name for someone living ‘at the bell’ (as attested by 14th-century forms such as John atte Belle). This indicates either residence by an actual bell (e.g. a town’s bell in a bell tower, centrally placed to summon meetings, sound the alarm, etc.) or ‘at the sign of the bell’, i.e. a house or inn sign (although surnames derived from house and inn signs are rare in Scots and English). Scottish and northern English: from the medieval personal name Bel. As a man’s name this is from Old French beu, bel ‘handsome’, which was also used as a nickname. As a female name it represents a short form of Isobel, a form of Elizabeth. Scottish: Americanized form of Gaelic Mac Giolla Mhaoil ‘son of the servant of the devotee’ (see Mullen 1). Jewish (Ashkenazic): Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames. Norwegian: habitational name from a farmstead in western Norway named Bell, the origin of which is unexplained. Scandinavian: of English or German origin; in German as a habitational name for someone from Bell in Rhineland, Germany, or possibly from Belle in Westphalia. Americanized spelling of German Böhl or Böll (see Boehle, Boll).