William Bondy

(male) Probably the most successful of all the Old French names of Germanic origin that were introduced to England by the Normans. It is derived from Germanic wil ‘will, desire’ + helm ‘helmet, protection’. The fact that it was borne by the Conqueror himself does not seem to have inhibited its favour with the ‘conquered’ population: in the first century after the Conquest it was the commonest male name of all, and not only among the Normans. In the later Middle Ages it was overtaken by John, but continued to run second to that name until the 20th century, when the picture became more fragmented.

Jewish: from the Sephardic personal name Bondia, related to Latin bonus dies ‘good day’, used as a translation of Hebrew yom tov ‘Jewish holiday’ (literally ‘good day’). The surname was borne by a family of Sephardic origin that settled in Prague, hence its occurrence chiefly in Bohemia and neighboring countries.