Family name origins & meanings
- German : from Middle High German bunt, a term which originally described black and white coloration, specifically of a fur. Later, by extension, it came to denote the fur itself. It was probably applied as a nickname, but in which sense is no longer clear, and the matter is further complicated by the fact that in some areas bunt meant ‘multicolored’ (its modern meaning is ‘colorful’).
- English : probably a metonymic occupational name for a maker of sieves, from Middle English bonte, bunte.