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

Bookman, 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 Bookman surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bookman in America

Bookman is the 13397th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bookman surname appeared 2,274 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Bookman.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bookman 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 Bookman

The surname Bookman has its origins in medieval England, specifically in the county of Yorkshire, where it first emerged in the 13th century. It is derived from the Old English words "boc" and "mann," which together mean "book man" or "scholar." This is likely a reference to an ancestor who worked as a scribe, copyist, or librarian during a time when books were rare and valuable commodities.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Bookman can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire from 1297, where a certain William Bookman is mentioned as a resident of the village of Cottingley. The name appears to have been concentrated in the Yorkshire region throughout the medieval period, with various spellings such as Bookeman, Bocman, and Bocmann appearing in local records.

In the 14th century, the Bookman surname began to spread beyond Yorkshire, with mentions of individuals bearing the name appearing in the Court Rolls of Lincolnshire and the Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk. This suggests that members of the family may have migrated to other parts of England, either for economic or personal reasons.

One notable historical figure associated with the Bookman surname is John Bookman, a 15th-century monk and scholar who resided at the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk. He is believed to have been born around 1420 and is credited with producing several illuminated manuscripts and theological treatises during his lifetime.

Another prominent individual was Robert Bookman, a merchant and alderman who lived in the city of York in the late 16th century. He was born in 1558 and played an active role in the city's governance, serving as Lord Mayor of York in 1592.

In the 17th century, the Bookman surname can be found in the parish records of several villages in Yorkshire, such as Wakefield, Huddersfield, and Barnsley. One notable figure from this period was William Bookman, a yeoman farmer born in Huddersfield in 1634, whose descendants can be traced through various family trees and genealogical records.

As the centuries progressed, members of the Bookman family continued to make their mark in various fields. For instance, in the 18th century, there was Samuel Bookman, a renowned clockmaker from Leeds who was active between 1720 and 1760.

In the 19th century, the Bookman surname gained recognition through the work of George Bookman, a prolific writer and journalist who was born in York in 1821. He is best known for his contributions to several popular magazines and newspapers of the time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bookman

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

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

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

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