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Help[Surname] Re: Meaning of Surname Bollinger?
in reply to a message by Wes
With a Swiss origin you can be quite sure that the family name derives from the place name. I think the Old French hypothesis (the modern French word for baker is boulanger) can be safely discarded.
The Swiss place name is probably derived from an Old High German given name Bollo or Bolo. The name can be found in Förstemann, 1900, Altdeutsches Namenbuch, but Förstemann only gives some educated guess with very hedging language: "I think of Middle High German buole (m and f) "husband, brother, friend" an it is striking that the word does not show up in Old Norse nor Anglo-Saxon". He discusses some alternatives later on.
The Swiss place name is probably derived from an Old High German given name Bollo or Bolo. The name can be found in Förstemann, 1900, Altdeutsches Namenbuch, but Förstemann only gives some educated guess with very hedging language: "I think of Middle High German buole (m and f) "husband, brother, friend" an it is striking that the word does not show up in Old Norse nor Anglo-Saxon". He discusses some alternatives later on.
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