Find out how popular the last name Boal is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Boal.

Boal, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Boal surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Boal in America

Boal is the 24608th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Boal surname appeared 1,015 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Boal.

We can also compare 2010 data for Boal to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Boal

The surname BOAL has its origins in the Gaelic language, specifically from the Irish Boyle, a name derived from the old Gaelic word 'bóthla' meaning 'hut' or 'humble dwelling'. It is believed to have first emerged as a surname in the 12th century, primarily in the northern counties of Ireland.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the BOAL surname can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled in the early 17th century. In this text, the name appears as 'Boyle', referring to a prominent Irish family that held lands in County Roscommon.

The BOAL surname is also closely associated with the town of Boyle in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is likely that the surname originated from this location, with the name initially being used to denote someone who resided in or near the town of Boyle.

Notable historical figures bearing the BOAL surname include Michael Boyle (1609-1702), a prominent Irish Catholic lawyer and judge who served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Another notable individual was Roger Boyle (1621-1679), an Anglo-Irish nobleman and member of the English Parliament.

In the 17th century, the BOAL surname began to spread beyond Ireland, with some bearers of the name migrating to other parts of the British Isles and eventually to North America. One notable American bearer of the surname was John Boal (1745-1819), a Pennsylvania-born businessman and Revolutionary War soldier.

Other historical figures with the BOAL surname include Robert Boal (1806-1859), a Scottish-born Canadian merchant and politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada. Additionally, Charles Boal (1827-1902) was an American businessman and philanthropist from Pennsylvania who made significant contributions to the development of the petroleum industry.

Throughout its history, the BOAL surname has undergone various spelling variations, including Boyle, Boile, Boylle, and Boel, among others. These variations likely arose due to regional dialects, phonetic spellings, and the influence of different languages over time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Boal

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Boal.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Boal was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Boal has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Boal was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Boal, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!