Frequency: (1269)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. Spanish: habitational name from various places named with banda, probably in the sense ‘side’, ‘edge’, ‘part’.
2. Hungarian: of uncertain origin; probably from the old secular personal name Bán.
3. Jewish (from Poland): metonymic occupational name from Polish banda ‘ribbon’.
4. In some instances, perhaps an altered spelling of German and Dutch Bande (see Band).
5. Croatian or Serbian: nickname for a bandit, from banda ‘band’, ‘gang’. This name originates from the Kordun and Krajina region on the former border between Croatia and Bosnia.
GIVEN NAMES: Spanish 47%. Juan (29), Francisco (15), Jose (15), Jesus (14), Manuel (14), Pedro (9), Carlos (8), Guadalupe (8), Raul (7), Javier (6), Mario (6), Alejandro (5).
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
