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Surname Etymology and Meaning of BAIN

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Name meanings and etymologies are often disputed. The information here is compiled from freely available sources, and no claims whatsoever are made for accuracy, either historical or etymological.

1. 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.
2. 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-.
3. Northern English: nickname for a hospitable person, from northern Middle English beyn, bayn ‘welcoming’, ‘friendly’ (Old Norse beinn ‘straight’, ‘direct’).
4. English and French: metonymic occupational name for an attendant at a public bath house, from Middle English, Old French baine ‘bath’.
5. 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.
6. Possibly an altered spelling of North German Behn.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names (2003)