BOWER

Bower is a surname of English and Scottish origin, traditionally linked to the small dwellings of the rural past and to the craft of bowmaking.

Its earliest linguistic roots lie in Middle English, where the word bure or burel denoted a modest cottage or an inner room. The same idea appears in Old English as bur, meaning a small dwelling. In the Middle Ages, people who lived in or near such structures were frequently identified by the descriptor “Bower”, signifying “dweller at the small house”. The suffix -er was commonly added to topographical terms—especially in Sussex, Surrey, Kent and Essex at the beginning of the fourteenth century—to create surnames such as Bower.

In addition to its topographical sense, the name also has an occupational dimension. It may function as a variant of Bowmaker or Bowyer, terms connected to the manufacture or trade of bows for archery. The Old English word boga and the Middle English bow gave rise to the agent suffix -er, producing the occupational surname Bowyer, and a cognate form, Bower or Bowmaker.

Historical records suggest that the surname appears in a number of spellings in England. An early example is Matthew de Labur of Surrey, dated 1194, and the name occurs in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Bur, Bure or Bura in Somerset and Essex. In the fourteenth century, we find examples such as Mayfflin Attebur (Somerset, 1280) and Robert le Bower (Staffordshire, 1332). The first recorded spelling recognised by contemporary documentation is Teodricus Bouer, dated 1187 in the Pipe Rolls of Herefordshire during the reign of Henry XI.

One notable bearer of the surname is Walter Bower or Bowmaker, who died in 1449. He served as abbot of Inchcolm and was commissioner tasked with collecting the ransom money of James I of Scotland in 1423.

Thus, the surname Bower reflects a dual heritage, representing both the humble habitation of a small cottage and the specialised craft of bowmaking, firmly rooted in the linguistic and social history of England and Scotland.

Typical given names associated with the Bower surname

Male

• Andrew
• Christopher
• David
• James
• John
• Michael
• Paul
• Peter
• Richard
• Stephen

Female

• Christine
• Elizabeth
• Emma
• Helen
• Jane
• Janet
• Jennifer
• Joan
• Julie
• Margaret
• Mary
• 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 Bower in...

Braille

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Morse

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Semaphore

Surname type: Occupational name

Origin: English

Region of origin: British Isles

Country of origin: England

Religion of origin: Christian

Language of origin: English

Famous people named Bower

• Jamie Campbell Bower - Actor
• Adrian Bower - Actor
• Tom Bower - Writer and journalist
• Mark Bower - Football player and manager
• Elizabeth Bower - Actress
• Stephen Dykes Bower - Architect (1903 to 1994)
• Billy Bower - Football player (1887 to 1954)
• Matt Bower -
• Norman Bower - Politician (1907 to 1990)
• Olivia Spencer Bower - New Zealand artist and painter (1905 to 1982)
• John Dykes Bower - Musician (1905 to 1981)
• Bill Bower - Football player (1911 to 1)
• Robert Bower - Politician (1894 to 1975)
• Alfred Bower - Amateur football player (1895 to 1970)
• Hamilton Bower - General (1858 to 1940)
• William Bower - County cricketer (1857 to 1943)
• Wallace Bower - Cricketer (1895 to 1971)
• Ryan Bower - England rugby union player
• Philip Bower - (1898 to 1978)
• Archibald Bower - Scottish Historian (1686 to 1766)

Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.

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