Bunn
Usually a surname from an old word for “good,” though in some cases it may reflect a nickname or an old personal name.
The #3,230 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 27,616 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The strongest old dictionary explanation links Bunn with French bon, meaning “good,” making it a nickname surname or an old byname with a positive sense. Some writers also connect it with an old personal name Bun or Buna, and one source suggests an Old English base with the sense of “gushing” or “spirited,” though that is less certain. The surname may therefore have more than one historical source, with the “good” explanation being the best-attested in the excerpted material.
History
Bardsley treats Bunn as a sobriquet connected with “good” and notes related pet forms such as Bunny and Bunney. Lower likewise gives Bunn as probably from French bon and equivalent to Good, while Barber points to a possible old personal name Bun/Buna. The name is found in English records, and some bearers may also have taken it from a place name such as Bunny in Nottinghamshire, though that seems secondary rather than the main origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In one 19th-century surname dictionary, Bunn is glossed simply as “good,” showing how often very ordinary words could become family names.
From the historical record
“Also a Scottish term for a stranger. BUNN. Probably the Fr. hon, and equivalent to Good. BUNNY. Probably from Bunny, co. Notts. The B.'s of Hxhope were said to BUR have held that Hampshire estate from temp. King John. B.L.G.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom