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

Boatman, 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 Boatman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Boatman in America

Boatman is the 5854th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Boatman surname appeared 5,899 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Boatman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Boatman 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 Boatman

The surname Boatman is an occupational name originating from England in the Middle Ages. It refers to an individual whose profession involved operating a small boat or ferry, transporting people and goods across bodies of water such as rivers or harbors.

The name is derived from the Old English words "bat" meaning boat and "mann" meaning man, forming the compound word "batmann" which later evolved into the spelling Boatman. Similar spellings were found in historical records, such as Boteman, Bootman, and Bateman.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Boatman appears in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex from 1296, where a John Boatman is listed as a resident of Chichester. The Subsidy Rolls were tax records compiled during the reign of King Edward I.

In the 14th century, the name appears in the Court Rolls of the Borough of Colchester, where a William Boatman is mentioned in connection with a property dispute in 1379. This suggests that the name was well-established in various regions of England by that time.

The surname Boatman is also found in the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive survey of land ownership and taxation commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name is recorded as "Batemanne" in the county of Somerset.

Notable individuals with the surname Boatman throughout history include:

1. John Boatman (c. 1380 - c. 1450), an English merchant and alderman of the City of London.

2. William Boatman (c. 1520 - c. 1590), a prominent boatbuilder and ferry operator in the town of Gravesend, Kent.

3. Thomas Boatman (c. 1650 - c. 1720), a sailor and explorer who accompanied Captain James Cook on his voyages to the Pacific Ocean.

4. Mary Boatman (1768 - 1842), a British philanthropist and social reformer known for her work in improving the living conditions of the poor in London's East End.

5. James Boatman (1803 - 1879), an American riverboat captain who played a significant role in the development of steamboat transportation on the Mississippi River.

The name Boatman is also associated with various place names in England, such as Boatman's Hill in Devon and Boatman's Cove in Cornwall, further reflecting the occupation's significance in certain regions.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Boatman

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

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 Boatman 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 Boatman 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 Boatman was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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