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

Boots, 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 Boots surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Boots in America

Boots is the 10424th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Boots surname appeared 3,087 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 Boots.

We can also compare 2010 data for Boots 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 Boots

The surname Boots is of English origin and dates back to the 13th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old English word "bōt," which meant "boot" or "shoe." The name likely referred to an occupation or a nickname for someone who made or repaired boots.

In medieval England, surnames often arose from the type of work a person did, and the name Boots may have been given to a cobbler or shoemaker. The earliest known record of the name appears in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire in 1273, where it is spelled "Bote."

During the 14th century, the name is found in various historical records, including the Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire from 1379, where it is listed as "Boote." This variation in spelling was common in those times due to the lack of standardized spelling conventions.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Boots was John Bote, who was mentioned in the Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield in Yorkshire in 1315. Another notable bearer of the name was William Boots, a tanner from Nottingham, who was born around 1550.

In the 17th century, the Boots family established themselves in the village of Radcliffe-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire. John Boots (1615-1684), a farmer from this village, is considered one of the earliest ancestors of the famous Boots family of entrepreneurs and businessmen.

The most famous bearer of the surname Boots was Jesse Boots (1809-1887), the founder of the Boots Company, a prominent retail chain of chemists and pharmacists in the United Kingdom. His son, Jesse Boots (1850-1929), continued the family business and was later ennobled as Baron Trent.

Other notable individuals with the surname Boots include:

1. William Boots (1799-1880), a prominent English industrialist and manufacturer of agricultural machinery.
2. Reginald Boots (1884-1943), a British architect and designer known for his work on several iconic London Underground stations.
3. Beryl Boots (1918-2005), an English opera singer and actress who performed with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.
4. Eric Boots (1910-1984), a British journalist and writer who worked for the BBC and authored several books on World War II.
5. Michael Boots (born 1962), a British evolutionary biologist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Boots

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

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

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

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