Malbon Family History

English (Staffordshire): nickname or habitational name from Norman French Malbanc which may be from Old French mal banc ‘bad bench’ but if so the reason for the use of this expression as a surname is unknown.

Possibly it derives from a lost placename in which banc may mean ‘steep crag’. The second part of the name -banc survives in Maybank but medieval forms in -ban(e) -bon(e) or -bun are also common.

These medieval forms are sometimes later re-interpreted as -born and -bourne leading to confusion with Melbourne.