Re: Last name Bonte-Gelok, help!
by Lucille (guest)
10/12/2002, 6:03 PM
Hi Neptalia!
Your surname is Dutch indeed. :)
Your surname consists of two surnames; Bonte and Gelok.
Bonte is a Frisian surname (it being Frisian means that it comes from the province of Friesland in the Netherlands). It's a patronymic surname and comes from the given name Bonte, which in turn derives from the given name Bone. It's possible that Bone is a variant of the Latin name Bonifatius, but since Bone was already used here even before Bonifatius, it has to be derived from something else. It's not certain, but it's possible that it comes from Old Germanic 'banan', which means 'to kill.'
Also, surnames like De Bont (famous bearer is Jan De Bont, director of "Twister"), Bunt and Bunte are variations of the surname Bonte.
And as for the Gelok surname, I unfortunately can't tell you anything about it. I couldn't find anything about it. It does sound Dutch, but I'm not certain if it truly is. Maybe it could be of Scandinavian origin also.
Regards,
Lucille