Family name origins & meanings
- German : nickname for a violent, aggressive person, from Middle High German buf ‘push’, ‘shove’.
- German : from the Old German personal name Bodo or the compound name Bodefrit, containing the Old High German element buitan ‘to bid or order’ or boto ‘messenger’.
- English : of uncertain derivation; possibly a nickname, either variant of Boff 1, or alternatively from Old French buf(f)e ‘blow’, ‘slap in the face’. Compare Buffin.