Bethune
A surname of French origin, taken from the town of Béthune in Artois, northern France.
The #9,437 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 89,569 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Bethune is a locational surname meaning “from Béthune,” the town in Artois, France. The name was borne by a noble family associated with that place, and medieval forms of the surname spread from northern France into Scotland and elsewhere. In later English usage, Bethune also helped explain surnames such as Beaton and Beton, which some writers treated as Scots spellings developed from Bethune.
History
Historical dictionaries link the name with a distinguished family from Béthune and note its appearance in Scotland through medieval noble connections. The surname is especially remembered there because Cardinal Beaton was often explained as a Scottish form of Bethune. In France the name is also associated with aristocratic lines, including the family of Sully.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th- and early-20th-century surname writers often treated the Scottish name Beaton as a corruption of Bethune.
From the historical record
“BETIIELL. See BIthell. BETHUNE. Tills Illustrious name Is traceable, beyond question, to Robert, sur- named Faisseus, seigneur of the town of Bethune, in Artois, in the year 1000, and there is good reason to suppose that he was a descendant of the ancient Counts of Artois. His descendants, Avho were en- nobled in…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom