Show ContentsBuddy History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Buddy comes from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It was a name for a person with a striking physique.

Early Origins of the Buddy family

The surname Buddy was first found in Hampshire where they held a family seat from ancient times.

Early History of the Buddy family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Buddy research. Another 135 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1086, 1296, 1597, 1688 and 1754 are included under the topic Early Buddy History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Buddy Spelling Variations

Only recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Buddy has undergone many spelling variations, including Body, Boddy, Boddie, Bodie, Bode, Bodhy, Bodin, Bott, Botter, Bodds, Bods, Botty and many more.

Early Notables of the Buddy family

Another 30 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Buddy Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ireland Migration of the Buddy family to Ireland

Some of the Buddy family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Buddy migration to the United States +

To escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Buddy were among those contributors:

Buddy Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Nicholas Buddy, who arrived in New England in 1730 [1]

Contemporary Notables of the name Buddy (post 1700) +

  • George J. Buddy, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Pennsylvania, 1972 [2]
  • Mark Buddy Farnham (b. 1987), American football wide receiver
  • Lee Buddy Archer, American fighter pilot and flying ace in the U.S. Army Air Forces, during World War II, credited with 9 aerial victories
  • Buddy Hackett (1924-2003), born Leonard Hacker, American comedian, actor, author and composer, best remembered for his roles as Marcellus Washburn in The Music Man (1962), Benjy Benjamin in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Tennessee Steinmetz in The Love Bug (1968), and the voice of Scuttle in The Little Mermaid (1989).
  • Buddy Arrington (1938-2022), American NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver
  • Buddy Merrill (1936-2021), born Leslie Merrill Behunin, Jr., an American guitar player and steel guitar player, best known as a regular on The Lawrence Welk Show
  • Buddy Cage (1946-2020), Canadian pedal steel guitarist, from Toronto, Ontario best known as a member of the New Riders of the Purple Sage
  • Buddy Holly (1936-1959), stage name of Charles Hardin Holley, American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of Rock and Roll, killed in a plane crash with Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, famously referred to as "The Day the Music Died" in Don McLean's 1971 song "American Pie"
  • Buddy Whittington (b. 1956), American guitarist
  • Buddy Bolding, American former coach of the Longwood Lancers baseball team (1978-2013)


  1. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  2. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 3) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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