As described in historical dictionaries

Patronymica Britannica (1860)

BODKIN. A younger son of the Fitzgeralds of Desmond a'nd Kildare settled in Connaughtin the XIII. cent., and obtained, as was not then uncoimnou, a sobriquet which usurped the place of a surname, and so Avas ham.led down. This was Bawdekin, proliably from his having affected to dress in the costly material of silk and tissue of gold, so popular in that age under the name of haudldn. (See Halliw.) The Bodking still use the "Crom-a-boo" motto of the Pitzgeralds. The Bokckin of the II.R, is probably from a different source.

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.


Surname type: Diminutive

Origin: English

Region of origin: British Isles

Country of origin: England

Religion of origin: Christian

Language of origin: English

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