Family name origins & meanings
- Dutch : from a short form of the medieval personal name Bonefaas, Dutch form of Boniface.
- South German (especially Baden-Württemberg) : from a short form of the personal name Gervasius, the name of the patron saint of Breisach on the Rhine.
- North German (especially Lower Rhine) : from a short form of the personal name Servaes, dialect form of Servatius, the name of the patron saint of Maastricht, one of the three so-called ‘Ice Saints’, or of the personal name Bonifatius (see Boniface), also borne by a saint.