Body Surname: Origin, Meaning & Coat of Arms

Body began as a Hungarian family name. Smith's 1956 dictionary gives the meaning “one who came from Bod (meadow), in Hungary”.

• That makes it a habitational name, first given to someone from that place.
• Similar-sounding surnames on Herald Lab: Boid, Boyd and Bode.
• In the 2010 US Census, 1,954 Americans gave Body as their last name (rank 15,099). French civil records give 1,275 births under the name Body from 1891 to 2000, peaking in 1951–1960. Births ran at 51 in 1891–1900 and 98 in 1991–2000.

Heraldry and the Body name

Sharing the Body name is not the same as sharing a crest; arms were granted to individual families. Want more than a summary? See the Body family name pack.