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BOWES

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There are approximately 6,742 people named Bowes in the UK. That makes it the 1,579th most common surname overall. Out of every million people in the UK, approximately 107 are named Bowes.

Region of origin

British Isles

Country of origin

England

Language of origin

English

Religion of origin

Christian

Classification

English
Location or Geographical Feature

Related and similar surnames

Boe
Bows
Bowe
Bow
Boes
Bose
Boos
Bews
Bos
Beus
Booze
Boese
Boehs
Bew
Bo
Bewes
Boees
Beewes
Boewes
Boses
Boez
Boowes
Boozes
Booghes
Beues
Bewe
Boozs
Boue
Boegh
Boee
Bbous
Beuwes
Bbos
Beaus
Booghs

The Bowes surname in historical dictionaries

This surname, according to Grose, originated as follows: about the time of the Conqueror, there was a town (on the site of the Castle of Bowes), which the tradition of the family states, was burned. It then belonged to the Earls of Brittany and Richmond. The castle was built, as Mr. Horseley thinks, out of the ruins of the Roman Fortress, by Alan Niger, the second earl of that title, who, it is said, placed therein William, his relation, with five hundred archers to defend it against some insurgents in Cambridge and Westmorland confederated with the Scots, giving him for the device of his standard the arms of Brittany, with three bows and a bundle of arrows, whence both the castle and the commander derived their names; the former being called Bowes Castle, and the latter, William de Arcubus, or William Bowes.

Arthur, William (1857) An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman. Public Domain.

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