Meaning & History
Bodnár is a occupational surname of Hungarian origin, meaning "cooper, barrel maker" in Hungarian. It belongs to the common pattern of European surnames derived from trades or professions.
The root of the name is the Hungarian word bodnár, which itself was borrowed from the Slavic languages (compare Polish bednarz, Czech bednář), ultimately from German böttner meaning "tub maker." This lexical borrowing reflects the historical influence of German-speaking settlers in Hungary, who introduced new trades and terms.
Notable bearers of the name include Hungarian sports figures: András Bodnár, an Olympic water polo player and freestyle swimmer; László Bodnár, a Hungarian football player; and Lajos Bodnar, a sprint canoeist. Among non-Hungarians, two brothers, Łukasz Bodnar and Maciej Bodnar, are Polish cyclists, and Adam Bodnar is a prominent Polish human rights lawyer and politician. Others span professional fields such as music (Andrew Bodnar was a bassist for Elvis Costello), ice hockey (Gus Bodnar in Canada), and criminality (Gizella Bodnár in Hungary). Jana Bodnárová is an important Slovak writer, adding a literary dimension.
The surname is most common in Hungary, but widespread due to migration, especially in Polish (lost diacritics as Bodnar) and Ukrainian (Боднар) contexts. The variant form Bodnar, without accent, is common for bearers of partly different ethnic origin. The spelling corresponds conventionally to the Slovak or Ukrainian rather than Hungarian, because in Hungarian, long vowel á is always marked. The suffix, here just accented vowel with -r (sometimes, with extra -k). Overall, the trade word "cooper" gave very similar typical names across much of continental Europe: in the west names from the Common Germanic source; in eastern equivalents borrowed sources as shape meanings.
Etymology
The name derives from the Old High German bottine (small cask) plus agent affix -āriye. Through routes of Magyar sources direct adaption around strong foreign loans from subsequent stages. End meaning: barrel-making maker trade from need of woodland tools history: so, generally interpretable fairly 'thumbing shape'. Look noted primarily type appears Hungarian spelling: ó-ot does due diphthingal rather pure?
Geographic distribution
Originates evidently Hungaophone people shaped generally western lowland back-medieval craft. One name form without accouncement represents other: They so occurs strong anywhere. Also attested currently mix.
Sources: Wikipedia — Bodnar