| ![Show Contents]() Bainion History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
The name Bainion is from the rugged landscape of Wales. It is a Celtic name that was derived from the Welsh personal name Enion, which was also spelled Einion and Eignon. The surname Bainion features the distinctive Welsh patronymic prefix ab-. The original form of the name was ab- Enion,but the prefix has been assimilated into the surname over the course of time and the overall spelling has sometimes been extensively altered. 1 2 "I wrote a series of articles some years ago entitled the 'Romance of the London Directory,' afterwards printed in book form. I stated that Bunyan was Bonjean, and that when we talked of' Good John Bunyan' we simply said 'Good John' twice over. This, I believe, was incorporated in a recent life of the great dreamer. But writing more soberly now, and after more study, I feel fairly confident that Bunyan's ancestry was Welsh. The great personal name of Enion or Eignon has left a very varied number of Welsh surnames, for 'Ab-Enion,' as Benyon will show, played freely with the vowels. " 3 Early Origins of the Bainion familyThe surname Bainion was first found in Bedfordshire where Henry Buniun was listed in the Curia Regis Rolls of 1204. Over one hundred years later, Simon Boynon was found in Bedfordshire in the Subsidy Rolls of 1309. 4 "In 1199 one William Buniun held land at Wilstead, a mile from Elstow [Bedfordshire]. In 1327 one of the same name, probably his descendant, William Boynon, was living at the hamlet of Harrowden, at the south-eastern boundary of the parish, close to the very spot which tradition marks out as John Bunyan's birthplace, and which the local names of 'Bunyan's End,' 'Bunyan's Walk,' and 'Farther Bunyan's' (as old, certainly, as the middle of the sixteenth century) connect beyond all question with the Bunyan family. A field known as 'Bonyon's End' was sold in 1548 by 'Thomas Bonyon of Elstow, labourer,' son of William Bonyon, to Robert Curtis, and other portions of his ancestral properly gradually passed to other purchasers, little being left to descend to John Bunyan's grandfather, Thomas Bunyan (d. 1641), save the 'cottage or tenement' in which he carried on the occupation of 'petty chapman,' or small retail trader." 5 "As Roger and John Buignon were sons of John Buignon, the surname, which has been noted only in Bedfordshire, was already hereditary in 1227 (Assize Rolls of Bedfordshire), when it appears as Buingon, Buinon, Buignon and Bungnon in the neighbourhood of Ampthill and Bedford." 4 Early History of the Bainion familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bainion research. Another 148 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1046, 1204, 1227, 1309, 1628 and 1688 are included under the topic Early Bainion History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Bainion Spelling VariationsThe Welsh have an extremely large amount of spelling variations of their native surnames to their credit. It was up to the priest or the scribe taking the official records to determine how the spoken name was to be made literal. As time progressed, the old Brythonic names of Wales were recorded in English, which was especially problematic since the English language had extreme difficulty recording the highly inflected sounds of Cymraeg. Spelling variations were, however, also carried out according to an individual's design: a branch loyalty within the family, a religious adherence, or even patriotic affiliations could be indicated by spelling variations of one's name. The spelling variations of the name Bainion have included Bunyon, Banyen, Benion, Benyan, Benyon, Bunyan, Bunyen, Banion, Banyan, O'Banion, O'Benyon and many more. Early Notables of the Bainion familyProminent amongst the family during the late Middle Ages was John Bunyan (1628-1688), author of "Pilgrim's Progress" and many other works. He was born at the village of Elstow, Bedfordshire, a little more than a mile south of the town of Bedford, in November 1628. The family of Buignon, Buniun...
Another 49 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bainion Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.  Migration of the Bainion family to Ireland
Some of the Bainion family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 33 words (2 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Migration of the Bainion familyNorth America in the 1800s and 1900s saw the arrival of many Welsh people hoping to share in the wealth of land, work, and freedom that they felt North America held. Those who made the journey often attained those expectations, but only through an enormous amount of hard work, perseverance, and often a bout of good luck. These immigrants helped contribute to the growth of industry, commerce, and culture of both Canada and the United States. Discovered in the immigration and passenger lists were a number of people bearing the name Bainion: Robert Bunyon who settled in Georgia in 1733 with his wife and two daughters; James Bunyon settled in New England in 1764; Anne Bunyon settled in New England in 1754..
- Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
- Arthur, William , An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. London: 1857. Print
- Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
- Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
- Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
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