Bynum
A surname most likely taken from a place-name, especially one formed from Old English elements meaning a settlement or homestead.
The #2,251 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 19,098 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Bynum is generally understood as a locational surname, probably from an English place-name rather than from a personal description or occupation. The name likely goes back to Old English place-name elements such as byge or bynum-like forms, but the exact source place is not securely fixed from the name alone. In many cases, surnames of this type were adopted by people who moved away from their home village and were identified by where they had come from.
History
Bynum is best known today as an American surname. In the United States it is found especially in the South, where many English and Scots-Irish surnames became established early through colonial settlement and later migration. Because the surname is relatively uncommon and the original place source is uncertain, different family lines may not share the same geographic origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Many locational surnames survived long after the original village-name had faded from memory, so a family could keep the same surname even when the exact place behind it was no longer obvious.