Bowles Surname Meaning & Origin
What the Bowles last name means, where the surname began and how it spread.
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Meaning and origin of the Bowles last name
Meaning of the Bowles last name: bowl maker. Bowles is an English surname for a maker or seller of wooden bowls, or for someone who lived in a rounded hollow, from Old English bolla, "bowl". The last name is spread across southern England. Curiously, wooden bowls were everyday tableware in medieval homes, so bowl-turners had steady work in every town.
Arms associated with the Bowles name
Heraldry associated with the Bowles surname uses a few strong colours, and each coat of arms has its own blazon.
Get your full Bowles family history
This is only a glimpse of the Bowles story. The full Bowles history report goes much deeper into where the name began, who carried it and how the family spread, and it comes with a museum-style painted Bowles coat of arms. Get the full Bowles report.
Bowles name FAQ
What does the Bowles name mean?
Bowl maker. Common variants include Bowls, Boles.
Where does the Bowles surname come from?
It originates in England, and is also found in the United States, Canada and Australia.
Is there a Bowles coat of arms?
Arms were granted to individuals rather than to everyone with a surname. Herald Lab paints a personalized Bowles coat of arms in museum style, based on historic heraldry.
Sources: Reaney & Wilson, Dictionary of English Surnames; Dictionary of American Family Names (Oxford).