Bolding
An English surname most likely meaning “son of Baldwin,” with the extra -i- added later in popular speech.
The #9,119 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 86,218 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Bolding is generally treated as a patronymic from the personal name Baldwin, itself from Germanic elements meaning “bold” or “brave” plus “friend.” Some 19th-century writers explain Bolding as a popular form of Baldwin, with an excrescent -i- inserted in pronunciation and spelling. In that view, it is closely related to forms such as Bolder and Golding, which were also linked to older personal names.
History
The name is recorded in England by the 13th century, and later examples turn up in several counties, including Shropshire and Norfolk in the excerpts supplied. Bardsley and Barber both treat it as a surname built from Baldwin rather than from a place-name. Related spellings such as Bolden and Boldwin show that the surname family was not fixed early on and shifted in sound and spelling over time.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One source notes that Bolding is a close parallel to Golding, which was likewise explained as a popular altered form of an older personal-name surname.
From the historical record
“Liverpool, 6, Bolden, Bolding, Boldln.— BapL ' the son of Baldwin,' popu- larly Bolder, or, with excrescent i, Bolding : cf. Golden and Golding for Goldwin, an exact parallel.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances