Bolling
A surname that likely began as a patronymic or tribal name, connected to a Germanic personal name such as Bolli/Bolle.
The #5,429 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 48,136 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The historical material points to a Germanic personal-name base, especially Bolli or Bolle, with the surname developing as a family or descent name. In Frisian and Dutch naming patterns, forms like Bollinga and Bolling are related to patronymic formations built from a personal name plus a kinship suffix. Some older writers also connected Bolling with a tribal or family name, but the safer explanation is that it arose from a personal-name root rather than from an occupation or place-name.
History
The name appears in several northern European naming traditions, especially Dutch and Frisian, and later in England and German-speaking areas as well. Medieval and early modern surname forms show many related spellings, which suggests independent regional developments from the same Germanic name stem. In English records, Bolling is often treated alongside other surnames of similar form rather than as a single, fixed source.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Related Frisian surname forms such as Bollinga were noted by 19th-century scholars as classic examples of the old -inga patronymic pattern.
From the historical record
“Bollin ; FI. Bulens ; Dch. Boelen p.n. ; Bolinnes ; a loc. n., Belg. A.S. Bolling, the fam. or triba1 name of Bolli. Bollen, Prot. ref. Lond. 16x8 Buller. From Boulaere ; a loc. n..| Fland. G. Buller ; a p.n.”
— British Family Names: their origin and meaning (2nd ed.)