Bowker Surname

44,107th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 11,778 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
United States
Highest density in:
Vanuatu

Bowker Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from an occupation. 'the butcher,' a North-English form. A very familiar form of the surname in Lancashire; v. Booker, and compare Cowper and Cooper.

Thomas le Bouker, Lancashire, 1379: Preston Guild Rolls.

Read More About This Surname

Bowker Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States5,3731:67,4597,848
England3,3691:16,5382,397
South Africa1,0081:53,7486,832
Australia7781:34,6994,572
Canada4821:76,4438,609
New Zealand3041:14,8962,609
Vanuatu1571:1,677485
Wales991:31,2583,153
Scotland711:75,4065,680
Zimbabwe251:617,53046,943
Thailand131:5,433,719375,884
France121:5,535,227269,324
Germany121:6,708,788223,026
Jersey81:12,4002,398
Northern Ireland61:307,50612,899
Brazil51:42,814,866547,158
Guernsey41:16,1101,225
Malaysia41:7,373,556230,001
United Arab Emirates41:2,290,56860,372
Czechia41:2,658,367127,801
Isle of Man31:28,6073,614
Philippines31:33,746,074302,898
Vietnam21:46,323,0275,235
China21:683,660,78330,601
Netherlands21:8,443,588136,641
Sweden21:4,923,378241,212
Spain21:23,376,018128,922
Uganda11:39,039,279258,887
Turkey11:77,821,422191,047
Mexico11:124,126,205103,776
Saudi Arabia11:30,855,81763,028
Honduras11:8,816,4429,272
Afghanistan11:32,153,18360,828
Antigua and Barbuda11:99,1712,137
Armenia11:2,930,18022,770
Belgium11:11,496,644167,539
Bermuda11:65,2793,010
Cyprus11:884,87613,055
Finland11:5,496,70284,025
Georgia11:3,745,54547,852
Grenada11:108,5351,793
Russia11:144,123,056881,408
Hong Kong11:7,335,48316,643
Indonesia11:132,249,194811,426
Israel11:8,557,634182,558
Italy11:61,156,688199,583
Jordan11:8,842,43726,010
Norway11:5,142,286129,201
Panama11:3,912,25817,195
Poland11:38,008,749231,653
Qatar11:2,357,99976,403
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland41:1,107,46726,093
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England2,9001:8,4051,275
Wales251:62,7373,061
Scotland31:1,247,73924,719
Isle of Man11:54,2692,077
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States1,5821:31,7443,820

Bowker (12) may also be a first name.

Bowker Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from an occupation. 'the butcher,' a North-English form. A very familiar form of the surname in Lancashire; v. Booker, and compare Cowper and Cooper.

Thomas le Bouker, Lancashire, 1379: Preston Guild Rolls.

Thomas le Bouker, Lancashire, 1332: Lay Subsidy (Rylands).

Margaret Bowker, of Manchester, 1591: Wills at Chester.

Arthur Bowker, of Bispham, Lancashire, 1605: ibid.

1618. Buried — James Bowker, Prest- bury Church (Cheshire).

1629. Baptised — Nathanyell, son of Adam Bowker: St. James, Clerkenwell.

Robertus de Boghland, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

Rogerus Bowland, 1379: ibid.

1550. Roger Bowland and Avice Gryggesbie: Marriage Lic. (London).

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

= Booker, q.v.

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

“Butcher”. Derived from Old French Boucher.

South African Surnames (1965) by Eric Rosenthal

(English) A variant of Booker, q.v.; one who had charge of money.

Dictionary of American Family Names (1956) by Elsdon Coles Smith

The Anglo-Saxon buc is a watervessel, and ' to bouke ' in P. Plowman means to wash. We still call a great washing of linen a ' bucking.' Hence the original Bowker must have been a washerman. See Lavender.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

See Booker. There is an armorial relationship between the names.

The Norman People (1874)

From the French, Boucquet, Bouché, Boucher; from the German, Bauke; personal name from the Old Norse, Baugr; nickname (?).

British Family Names: Their Origin and Meaning (1903) by Henry Barber

Bowker Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Bowker Come From? nationality or country of origin

The surname Bowker is most common in The United States. It can be found in the variant forms:. For other potential spellings of Bowker click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Bowker? popularity and diffusion

Bowker is the 44,107th most frequently held surname at a global level It is held by approximately 1 in 618,742 people. This surname is predominantly found in The Americas, where 46 percent of Bowker are found; 46 percent are found in North America and 46 percent are found in Anglo-North America. Bowker is also the 3,306,491st most commonly used first name in the world, borne by 12 people.

This last name is most numerous in The United States, where it is held by 5,373 people, or 1 in 67,459. In The United States Bowker is most frequent in: New York, where 6 percent reside, New Jersey, where 6 percent reside and Texas, where 5 percent reside. Not including The United States this surname is found in 50 countries. It is also found in England, where 29 percent reside and South Africa, where 9 percent reside.

Bowker Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The frequency of Bowker has changed over time. In The United States the share of the population with the last name grew 340 percent between 1880 and 2014; in England it grew 116 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Wales it grew 396 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Scotland it grew 2,367 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Bowker Last Name Statistics demography

The religious devotion of those holding the Bowker last name is predominantly Anglican (75%) in Ireland.

In The United States Bowker are 11.85% more likely to be registered Republicans than The US average, with 58.62% being registered to vote for the party.

The amount Bowker earn in different countries varies somewhat. In South Africa they earn 7.99% more than the national average, earning R 256,620 per year; in United States they earn 4.31% more than the national average, earning $45,009 USD per year and in Canada they earn 9.66% more than the national average, earning $54,484 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Bouwker920/
Bowcker920/
Bawker838/
Bowcer833/
Vowker833/
Bowqer831/
Bofker831/
Bewker830/
Bovker830/
Boufker77533/
Bowcher77113/
Bawkher7791/
Bhawker771/
Boobker770/
Boubkeir711/
Bovkır6735/
Bafker6713/
Vobker6712/
Bavker671/
Boubckeir671/
Bufker671/
Babkeer62477/
Bafkeur62321/
Boufkir629/
Bafkher628/
Babcker622/
Bovcher621/
Baabker621/
Boufkhir574/
Bavkir50289/
Bafkir5010/
Bevkir5010/
Bavcer502/
Befkir501/

Search for Another Surname

Bowker Reference & Research

Bowker FamilyTree DNA Project - A description of a group researching the paternal lines of men who bear the surname with the help of DNA analysis.

The name statistics are still in development, sign up for information on more maps and data

By signing up to the mailing list you will only receive emails specifically about name reference on Forebears and your information will not be distributed to 3rd parties.

Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Bowker
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis