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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Swedish : ornamental name composed either of bo ‘farm’ + the suffix -(land)er or of bol ‘farm’ + ander, probably taken from Greek anēr ‘man’, genitive andros.
  • German : habitational name for someone from Bolanden in the Palatinate, Bolande in Schleswig-Holstein, or Bohland in Baden. The first takes its name from a 13th century castle and neighboring village, which is derived from an older (12th century) field name, Bonlande(n), meaning ‘bean field’.
  • German : probably an altered spelling of Böhlander, regional name for a Pole, Middle High German Polan, Poland (from Slavic poljane ‘plain’).

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