Bacon is a Norman French surname originally from Normandy and England. In early sources, it also appears as "Bachun" and "Bacun".
Its etymology is uncertain, with Charnock favoring a derivation from a diminutive of Germanic bach ("little stream, creek") and others from an eponymous seigniory in Normandy or from a corruption of Beacon. It is sometimes folk etymologized from bacon or Germanic bag ("to fight").
Notable bearers of this surname include:
Albion Fellows Bacon (1865–1933), American reformer and writer
Anthony Bacon (1796–1864), British cavalry officer during the Napoleonic wars
Anthony Bacon (1718–1786), English industrialist
Augustus Octavius Bacon (1839–1914), American politician
Benjamin Wisner Bacon (1860–1932), American theologian
Brady Bacon (born 1990), USAC National Sprint Car driver.
David Bacon (disambiguation), several people
Don Bacon, American baseball manager
Don Bacon, U.S. Air Force brigadier general
Edmund Bacon (1910–2005), American urban planner
Edward Denny Bacon (1860–1938), British philatelist and curator (1913–1938) of the Royal Philatelic Collection
Edward Woolsey Bacon (1843–1887), American Congregational preacher and writer
Ernst Bacon (1898–1990), American composer and pianist
Everett Bacon (1890–1989), American football player from Wesleyan University, in College Football Hall of Fame
Ezekiel Bacon (1776–1870), American politician
Faith Bacon (1910 –1956), American dancer and actress
Francis Bacon (1561–1626), knighted English philosopher, statesman and author
Francis Bacon (1909–1992), Anglo-Irish painter
Francis Thomas Bacon (1904–1992), British engineer
Frank Bacon (1864–1922), American actor-playwright
Frank L. Bacon (1841-1917), American politician
Gaspar G. Bacon (1886–1947), American politician
George B. Bacon (1836–1876), American Congregational preacher and writer
Henry Bacon (1866–1924), American architect
Irving Bacon (1893–1965), American character actor
Jim Bacon (1950–2004), Premier of Tasmania, Australia
Jim Bacon (b. 1896), Welsh rugby union and rugby league footballer
John Bacon (c. 1290–1346), better known as John Baconthorpe, learned English Carmelite monk related to the Bacons
John Bacon (1738–1820), US Representative from Massachusetts
John Bacon (1740–1799), British sculptor
John Bacon (1777–1859), British sculptor
John M. Bacon, nineteenth-century American general
John Mackenzie Bacon, FRAS (1846–1904), English astronomer, aeronaut, and lecturer
Jono Bacon, Ubuntu Community Manager
J. S. Bacon (1858-1939), American politician
Kenneth Bacon (1944–2009), American journalist
Kevin Bacon (born 1958), American film actor
Leonard Bacon (1802–1881), American Congregational preacher and writer
Leonard Woolsey Bacon (1830–1907), American Congregational preacher and writer
Lise Bacon (born 1934), Canadian politician
Lloyd Bacon (1889–1955), American actor
Lucy Bacon (1857–1932), American artist
Mathew Bacon, legal writer
Max Bacon, lead singer for 1980s arena rock supergroup GTR
Max Bacon (b. 1941), Missouri jurist and legislator
Michael Bacon (born 1949), American musician
Nathaniel Bacon of the Virginia Colony, instigator of Bacon's Rebellion in 1676
Sir Nathaniel Bacon (d. 1622), lawyer and MP for Norfolk, half-brother of Francis Bacon
Nathaniel Bacon, Jesuit, secretary of the Society of Jesus from 1674 to 1676
Nathaniel Bacon (1585–1627), landowner and painter, nephew of Francis Bacon
Nathaniel Bacon (1593–1660), a Member of Parliament representing Cambridge University and Ipswich, grandson of Nicholas Bacon
Nicholas Bacon (1510–1579), English politician during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal
Sir Nicholas Bacon, 1st Baronet, of Redgrave (c. 1540–1624), his son, the first man created a baronet
Sir Nicholas Bacon, 1st Baronet, of Gillingham (1623–1666), English lawyer
Sir Nicholas Bacon, 14th Baronet (born 1953), Premier Baronet of England, lawyer, and Page of Honour to Queen Elizabeth II
Nicholas Bacon (1622–1687), MP for Ipswich 1685–1687
Nick Bacon (1945–2010), American soldier and Medal of Honor recipient
Orrin Bacon (1821-1893), American politician
Peggy Bacon (1895–1987), American artist and author
Reginald Bacon (1863–1952), Royal Navy admiral
Richard Bacon (b. 1975), English television and radio presenter
Richard Bacon, British politician
Robert Bacon (1860–1919), American diplomat
Robert L. Bacon (1884–1938), American politician
Roger Bacon (1214–1295), Franciscan friar, English philosopher
Scott Bacon (b. 1977), Australian politician, son of Jim Bacon
Sosie Bacon (b. 1992), American film actress
Thomas Rutherford Bacon (1850–1913), American Congregational preacher, writer, professor of history
Walter Rathbone Bacon (1845–1917), American tramway executive
Walter W. Bacon (1879–1962), American accountant and politician, Governor of Delaware
Winchel Bacon, American politician
Yehuda Bacon (born 1929), Israeli artist
