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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Dutch : from a short form of the medieval personal name Bonefaas, Dutch form of Boniface.
  • South German (especially Baden-Württemberg) : from a short form of the personal name Gervasius, the name of the patron saint of Breisach on the Rhine.
  • North German (especially Lower Rhine) : from a short form of the personal name Servaes, dialect form of Servatius, the name of the patron saint of Maastricht, one of the three so-called ‘Ice Saints’, or of the personal name Bonifatius (see Boniface), also borne by a saint.

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