The origin and meaning of the name ‘Bondi’ remains a subject of debate. Since the early decades of white settlement in Sydney the beach’s name has appeared with various spellings including Bundi, Bundye and Boondye. All agree the word has an indigenous history.

The spelling of the word "Bondi" may have changed over time, but the suburb’s name is derived Dharawal language spoken by Aboriginal people from Sydney Harbour to the Shoalhaven. The word, Bondi, also referred to as Bundi, Bundye and Boondye, originates from the Dharawal word for a loud thud noise, due to the sound made by waves breaking over rocks. The word is also associated with clubs, or fighting sticks, due to the loud thud noise made on impact.

The first known written reference appeared in a field book of the colonial surveyor James Meehan, who in 1809 referred to it as Bundi Bay when he mapped the 200-acres of land grant made to the ex-convict road builder William Roberts by Governor Lachlan Macquarie.

Roberts made his land available for cattle grazing soon after he received the grant. In an advertisement in the Sydney Gazette on August 21, 1819, he offered his farm at ‘Bundye’, “which is well-calculated for the depasturage of stock … which will be taken every possible care of at the low rate of six-pence a week for each head, which will be necessary to defray the expense of a proper herdsman”.

The name ‘Bondi’ was used in the New South Wales Calendar and Directory in 1832. An advertisement for the sale of Bondi Estate land in 1852 also used it. The Australian Museum also records the use of the name ‘Boondi’, described in sources dating from 1896.

Whatever names the historical record contains, archeological studies show that Bondi was and remains a significant place for First Nations people, who were still camping and practicing culture in the area in the 1870s.

A large gale that hit Bondi in 1899 blew away enough sand to expose vast quantities of cultural objects from a highly significant Aboriginal beach campsite. Many of these objects are in the Australian Museum.

The gale revealed that Bondi was significant to Aboriginal people, and its surf-derived name proved prophetic with the beach becoming the birthplace of Australia’s surf culture.

Courtesy the Gujaga Foundation.