Skip to main content

Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • German : from the Germanic personal name Baldo, a short form of the various compound names with the first element bald ‘bold’.
  • German : nickname in the south for a short fat man or a topographic name in the north from Middle Low German bolle ‘knoll’, ‘rounded hill’.
  • Dutch : from Middle Dutch bolle ‘ball’, ‘bread bun’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a baker or a nickname for a ball player.
  • Norwegian : habitational name from a farm in northern Norway, so named with bolle ‘rounded hill’.
  • Swedish : variant of Boll.

Join the Family

Your partner in parenting from baby name inspiration to college planning.

Subscribe