The last name Bonds is a patronymic form of the name Bond. Patronymic means, of the father. The son of a man named Bond, would be Bond’s son, or, as it would have been for his son John, John Bonds. People would know it was John, the miller (John Miller).
Bond was an English status name that originally described a peasant farmer or husbandman, from the Middle English word bonde, from Old English bonda, bunda, and reinforced by the Old Norse bóndi).
The Old Norse word was also in use as a personal name, and became other English and Scandinavian surnames alongside those originating as status names. Peasant farmer’s status fluctuated considerably during the Middle Ages. The term came to signify a farmer holding lands from, and bound by loyalty to, a lord or laird. Out of this usage, came the notion that it meant a man who was a free landholder as opposed to a serf.
In England after the Norman Conquest the word sank in status and became associated with the idea of bound servitude.
San Francisco Giant outfielder Barry Bonds was bound over for trial on obstruction of justice charges in 2011 and convicted of a single count. He hit more home runs than any other Major League Baseball player.