BOGGIS

Boggis is a surname of English origin that has been recorded in various forms across the United Kingdom for many centuries.

According to linguistic evidence the name is derived from the Old English word boga, meaning bow or archery. It is therefore probable that early bearers of the name were either skilled archers or bow makers, making the surname an occupational nickname. Boga was also used as a personal name in pre‑7th‑century England, so a personal‑name origin cannot be excluded entirely.

The earliest surviving record of the family name appears in the Hundred Rolls of Yorkshire, where a man named Elyas Bogeys is dated to 1260. Subsequent medieval documents locate individuals with the surname, or close variants, in several counties: John Bogays of Wakefield in 1301, William Bogace in the same city in 1309, Giles Bog of Essex in 1327, and William Bogges in the East Anglian county of Suffolk in the same year. The surname also appears as Boggs in the 16th‑century subsidy rolls of Suffolk and as Bogges among Northamptonshire inhabitants in the late 14th and early 15th centuries.

Throughout the middle ages the name gained a fair degree of popularity in the eastern counties of England, particularly Norfolk and Suffolk, and was also recorded in Yorkshire and Somerset. In later centuries spelling variations such as Bogis, Boggess, and Boggies were occasionally used, but the spelling Boggis remained the most common. In contemporary times the surname is still found in the United Kingdom, predominantly in England, and also appears among descendants in the United States, Canada, and Australia due to historic migration.

In modern popular culture the surname is recognisable from Roald Dahl’s 1970 children’s novel Fantastic Mr. Fox, where one of the three farmers is named Boggis. This reference has helped sustain public interest in the name, even though its frequency remains relatively low in the present day.

Typical given names associated with the Boggis surname

Male

• Andrew
• Arthur
• Colin
• David
• James
• John
• Mark
• Michael
• Paul
• Peter
• Richard
• Stephen
• Tony

Female

• Christine
• Elizabeth
• Linda
• Lisa
• Lucy
• Margaret
• Nicola
• Patricia
• Sarah
• Susan

Similar and related surnames

Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.

How to communicate the surname Boggis in...

Braille

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Morse

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