Frequency: (887)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. Anglicized form of a French Huguenot name of unexplained etymology. The name was already in North America by 1700.
2. Italian: from a short form of the personal name Benedetto.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
