Bushong
| Bushong / Boschung | |
|---|---|
| Family name | |
| Region of origin | Switzerland and Palatinate |
| Language(s) of origin | German / Swiss German |
| Related names | Bushon |
Bushong is a surname found mostly in the United States, derived from the surname Boschung found mainly in Switzerland, but also in the Palatinate and other regions in Western Europe.
The American surname, Bushong and variant Bushon, prior to being anglicized, was the German-Swiss name, Boschung. The spelling was changed after immigration to Colonial America. The immigrants, Hans and Johann Nicholas both arrived as Boschung, Hans in 1731 and Johann Nicholas in 1732. The original ships manifests and transcriptions list them as Boschung, but the spelling was changed in their American lives.
One favored theory is the surname is based on two syllables, and . is considered a Germanic topographical name, derived from the Latin word, boscus which translates to wood, as in forest. Subsequently, the patronymic suffix ung was added to the original name and means descendants of (the Bosch). It has been theorized that the reason to differentiate from an original Bosch family, with the addition of the suffix, was that there had been a large well established Bosch family. The patronymic suffix identified them as having separated by proximity from the original family. In other words, the families who moved away were not the Bosch, they were the Boschung. All occurring as surnames were beginning to be the accepted practice.
There are several Boschung family lines, originating in Switzerland, one of which started in 1750, when a line Bosson, changed its names spelling to Boschung. Another line began in 1600 in Boltigen, Switzerland, with a name change from Studer, and this is believed to be beginning of the Colonial American Bushong. However, the Boschung name is first noted in the 1520s in Jaun, Fribourg, Switzerland and in the 1530s a few miles away in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland. These families whether related or not represent the majority of the Boschung. All would have been spoken a Swiss German dialect, more specifically its predecessor western High Alemannic dialect (Bernese German).
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