bain Family History Facts 1920

bain Name Meaning and History

Scottish: nickname for a fair-haired person, from Gaelic bàn ‘white’, ‘fair’. This is a common name in the Highlands, first recorded in Perth in 1324. It is also found as a reduced form of McBain.
Northern English: nickname meaning ‘bone’, probably bestowed on an exceptionally tall, lean man, from Old English ban ‘bone’. In northern Middle English -a- was preserved, whereas in southern dialects (which later became standard), it was changed to -o-.
Northern English: nickname for a hospitable person, from northern Middle English beyn, bayn ‘welcoming’, ‘friendly’ (Old Norse beinn ‘straight’, ‘direct’).
English and French: metonymic occupational name for an attendant at a public bath house, from Middle English, Old French baine ‘bath’.
French: topographic name for someone who lived by a Roman bath, from Old French baine ‘bath’ or a habitational name from a place in Ille-et-Vilaine, named with this word.
Possibly an altered spelling of North German Behn.

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4

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Thread	Author	Replies
JANET BAIN, born about 1760, Perthshire, Scotland.	damakellis	1
BAIN, GREER	jamesbayne30	10
Alexander Bain from Scotland	Marcia	9
William C Bain born 1789 North Carolina	Herbertbain	4
BAIN Willie Herbert 1887 1887 son of W and M S Bain	t42IOOF_DenCoTX	0
John in Ontario	cjjeffries	1
Family of Duncan Bain born 1872 Scotland	loharv1	0
Daniel Bain Descendants in Alabama and Texas	KDonahue4532	3
Mary Bain Cummings	rcmmngs	0
fraser nee Bain, WA, Australia	wilsonsa_1	0