Bunnell
An English surname that may be a diminutive form of Dunn, or a place-name surname from Bonehill in Staffordshire.
The #5,472 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 48,583 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The historical evidence is mixed. Some 19th-century surname writers connect Bunnell with Dunn, treating it as a shortened or altered diminutive form, while others list it among local surnames and suggest a link with Bonehill in Staffordshire. The name may also reflect older Germanic nickname or patronymic forms that later developed into English spellings like Bunnell.
History
The surname is recorded in England by the early 1600s, including examples in Oxford and London records. It appears in later English and American usage, but the old scholarship does not settle on a single origin. The spelling has several related forms, which suggests that it developed through regional pronunciation and scribal variation.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One source places Bunnell alongside a cluster of surnames that seem to have grown by adding a diminutive ending to shorter names like Dunn and Benn.
From the historical record
“London, 6, 9 ; Philadelphia, 23, 3. Bunnell.— Local, ' of Bonehill,' CO. Staff. ; V. Bonehill ; cf. Buckle and Buckell for Buckhill. 1608. Thomas Bannell, co. Flint : Reg. Univ. Oxf. vol. ii. pt. ii. p. 300.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)