Bollinger
A surname of Swiss origin, most likely meaning someone from Bollingen near Lake Zurich.
The #2,891 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 24,849 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is generally understood as a habitational surname from Bollingen, a place in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland. In that reading, Bollinger originally meant “a person from Bollingen.” Some older writers also connected the name with continental forms that later overlapped with Bullinger/Bollinger spellings, so the history of the surname in English records can be messy. The safest modern explanation is the Swiss place-name origin.
History
The surname appears in historical English records in several altered spellings, including forms that were sometimes confused with or influenced by other continental names. Nineteenth-century surname scholars also noted the name among Swiss and German immigrant surnames. In modern usage, Bollinger is established in the United States and elsewhere through migration from German-speaking Europe.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bollingen is a real place on the upper shore of Lake Zurich, and that place-name is the key to the surname's usual explanation.
From the historical record
“2 a weak form of Pooley, q.v. POLLINGER, an unvoiced form of Bollinger = Bullinger, q.v. POLLMAN, a weak form of Poolman, q.v. POLLOCK ) (A.-Lat.) = Paul . (q.v.) + the”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)