BOWLING
Bowling is an English surname deriving from the British Isles.
The surname originated in England and has historically been associated with Christian families.
Its earliest recorded form is found in the Domesday Book of 1086 where the place name is recorded as Bollinc; later it appears as Bolling in 1150.
The name is considered to be locational, referring to the ancient village of Bowling, now incorporated into the city of Bradford in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It was widely recorded in that county.
Although the precise origin of the place name remains uncertain, several theories exist. One suggests the suffix ing would normally indicate “the people of”, though this is usually followed by tun to denote a settlement or village. The Old English word bolla means a bowl, depression in the ground, a pit or quarry, which could describe the local topography. Alternatively, the term hlinc meaning hill might have been intended, producing an image of a bowl or valley on a hill.
In a different branch of the name’s development, Bowling has been linked to the Old English word boga meaning “bow” or “archery”. In this sense the surname was originally an occupational name for a maker or user of bows, or a nickname for an individual with notable skill as an archer.
Historical evidence of the surname in Yorkshire dates back to the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. For example, a Robert Bowling is recorded at Halifax Parish Church on 30 September 1582, and an Edward Bowling is mentioned at the Parish Church, Bradford, when his daughter Barbary was christened on 22 December 1633.
Consequently, Bowling corresponds either to a geographical connection with a particular valley or hill in Yorkshire, or to an ancestral association with the craft of bow making and archery. The name remains a testament to the varied ways in which English surnames have been derived from place and occupation.
Typical given names associated with the Bowling surname
Male
- Andrew
- David
- James
- John
- Michael
- Paul
- Robert
- Stephen
- Thomas
- William
Female
- Alison
- Angela
- Barbara
- Elizabeth
- Frances
- Joanne
- Julie
- Margaret
- Pamela
- Rebecca
- Sarah
- Susan
- Valerie
Similar and related surnames
- Bolding
- Boulding
- Bowlden
- Bolling
- Bolden
- Boulden
- Bohling
- Bolin
- Boline
- Bohlin
- Beling
- Boiling
- Boilling
- Bawling
- Bowlin
- Boling
- Bolinger
- Bolingo
- Bollinger
- Bollings
- Bouling
- Bowlding
- Bowline
- Bowlings
- Bowlting
- Boyling
- Baling
- Biling
- Bling
- Bolington
- Bollin
- Bollingall
- Bollingham
- Bollinghaus
- Bollington
- Bollins
- Bolting
- Boulling
- Byling
- Blanc
- Blanco
- Blank
- Blinco
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Bowling in...
Braille
⠃⠕⠺⠇⠊⠝⠛
Morse
-...---.--.-....-.--.
Semaphore
There are approximately 1,614 people named Bowling in the UK. That makes it roughly the 5,027th most common surname in Britain. Around 25 in a million people in Britain are named Bowling.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Bowling
- Frank Bowling - Visual artist
- Ian Bowling - Football player
- Kenneth Bowling - Cricketer (1929 to 1997)
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.