Of relatively recent origin and uncertain etymology. It is first recorded in the 19th century. It may be a shortened form of Belinda, an adoption of Spanish linda ‘pretty’, or a Latinate derivative of any of various other Germanic female names ending in -lind meaning ‘weak, tender, soft’. It was popular in the 20th century, especially in the 1950s.
Spanish (Hernández) and Jewish (Sephardic): patronymic from the personal name Hernando (see Fernando). This surname also became established in southern Italy, mainly in Naples and Palermo, since the period of Spanish dominance there, and as a result of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal at the end of the 15th century, many of whom moved to Italy.