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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Polish (Bień) : from a short form of the personal names Benedykt (see Benedict) or Beniamin (see Benjamin).
  • Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic) : from a pet form of the personal name Beniamin (see Benjamin).
  • Jewish (Ashkenazic) : ornamental name from Yiddish bin ‘bee’, German Bien(e), or a metonymic occupational name for a beekeeper.
  • German : from the dialect word Bien ‘bee’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a beekeeper or nickname for an industrious person.
  • Vietnamese (Biên) : unexplained.

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