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

Bok, 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 Bok surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bok in America

Bok is the 31383rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bok surname appeared 738 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 Bok.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bok 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 Bok

The surname BOK originated in the Low Countries, which includes parts of modern-day Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, during the medieval period. It is believed to be derived from the Dutch word "bok," meaning "ram" or "buck."

In the 12th century, surnames started to become more prevalent in this region, and people adopted names based on physical characteristics, occupations, or places of origin. The name BOK may have been given to someone who resembled a ram or worked with these animals.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname BOK can be found in the Holland Fief Book, a medieval record of land holdings and tenures, dating back to the late 13th century. The name is also mentioned in various municipal records and church registers from the 14th and 15th centuries in cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

Historically, the BOK surname was often associated with the city of Delft in the Netherlands. In the 16th century, a notable figure named Pieter Bok (1515-1598) was a prominent merchant and alderman in Delft. He was involved in the city's textile trade and served on the city council.

Another notable bearer of the BOK surname was Hieronymus Bok (1667-1736), a Dutch Golden Age painter known for his still-life and genre paintings. He was born in Schiedam and spent most of his career in Rotterdam.

In the 18th century, the BOK surname spread to other parts of Europe, including Germany and Scandinavia. One notable bearer was Johan Bok (1727-1786), a Swedish botanist and explorer who traveled to South Africa and made significant contributions to the study of plant life in the Cape region.

In more recent history, Bart Bok (1906-1983) was a Dutch-American astronomer who made important discoveries in the field of galactic structure and the study of interstellar matter. He was born in the Netherlands and later immigrated to the United States, where he had a distinguished career at Harvard University.

While the BOK surname has its roots in the Low Countries, it has since spread to various parts of the world, including North America and Australia, due to migration and immigration patterns over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bok

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Bok, 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!