Skip to main content

Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • English : nickname for someone with close-cropped hair or a large head, Middle English bolling ‘pollard’, or for a heavy drinker, from Middle English bolling ‘excessive drinking’.
  • German (Bölling) : from a pet form of a personal name formed with Germanic bald ‘bold’, ‘brave’ (see Baldwin).
  • Swedish : either an ornamental name composed of Boll + the suffix -ing ‘belonging to’, or possibly a habitational name from a place named Bolling(e).

Join the Family

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

Subscribe