Skip to main content

Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • English : occupational name for a scribe or copyist, from an agent derivative of Middle English, Old French bulle ‘letter’, ‘document’.
  • English (of Norman origin) : habitational name from a place in Normandy that has not been identified. If it is Bouillé, and so identical with Bulley 1, the -er(s) may have arisen by analogy with other Norman place names in -ière(s) (see for example Villers).
  • German : nickname for a man with a loud voice, from an agent derivative of Middle High German bullen ‘to roar’ (of imitative origin).

Join the Family

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

Subscribe