Bunce

This unusual and interesting surname is of Old French and Anglo-Saxon origin, and has two possible sources, each with its own derivation and meaning. Firstly, it may be Norman-French, and derives from a nickname for a "good" person, from the Old French "bon", good, itself from the Latin "bonus". The name was introduced into England after the Norman Conquest of 1066, and may have been bestowed in a complimentary or ironic sense on a "good" person. The second possible source is also from a nickname, which is found recorded mainly in the north of England, as "Bain", and was given to an exceptionally tall, lean person. The derivation in this instance is from the Olde English pre 7th Century "ban", bone; in northern dialects the long "a" was preserved, whereas in the southern dialect it was changed to an "o" sound. In the modern idiom the surname from both sources can be found recorded as Bone, Bunn, Bunce, Bonn, Boon(e) and Ba(yne). The surname was first recorded in the early 13th Century (see below), and Roger Bunce was recorded in the 1273 Hundred Rolls of Kent. Recordings from London Church Registers include: the christening of John, son of John and Ann Boon, on April 5th 1677, at St. Dunstan's, Stepney, and the marriage of Benjamin Boon and Ann Ball on August 1st 1686, at St. Andrew's, Enfield. The family Coat of Arms is a silver bend cottised gold, between two silver lions rampant, three red escallops, on a blue shield. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Edward le Bon, which was dated 1204, in the "Curia Regis Rolls of Oxfordshire", during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.