surname Bayne
This is my Australian relatives'surname. I am wondering about its meaning and origin.
Could anybody help me?

Thank you
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Replies

It is Scottish and/or Irish, but found throughout the British Isles. In Irish, 'bán' means fair or white. It's most commonly spelled the way you have in Co. Tyrone and Mayo. Its alternate forms are Bain, Bane, Baine, Baines and is sometimes translated to White.
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As an alternative piece of information....

While my family definitely has its origins in Scotland, there was a surname geneology database I was looking at in Greenwich a few years ago with respect to heraldry etc and it listed Northern France (with no mention of Scotland, so a rather incomplete database I guess) as a source of the name.

So the question is probably more a case of how far back you want to go... I would presume it's origins are Scottish or Irish until either pre-1700 when the Scots were the King of France's bodyguards and you have a possible mix / transfer of men between the two countries. Pre-1400, a possible 'relocation' of many French to Scotland, or 1066 era with the Norman invasion.

The latter is the most difficult to explain since you would expect a greater number with the name to stem from southern England, not Scotland, which is clearly not the case. This is of course assuming the database I looked at was accurate and it does have French origins.
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Additionally... the family Bayne is associated with the Clan MacKay located in the most northwestern part of Scotland, though I have not been able to determine why etc yet.
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