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

Bosma, 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 Bosma surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bosma in America

Bosma is the 17691st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bosma surname appeared 1,586 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 Bosma.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bosma 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 Bosma

The surname Bosma has its origins in the Netherlands, tracing back to the early 16th century. It is believed to be derived from the Dutch word "bosch," meaning "woods" or "forest," combined with the suffix "-ma," which was commonly used to denote a place of origin or residence.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bosma can be found in the Dutch archives from the city of Utrecht, where a certain Ghijsbert Bosma is mentioned in a document dated 1539. This suggests that the name may have originated in or around the Utrecht region, where dense forests were once abundant.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Bosma name began to spread across other parts of the Netherlands, particularly in the provinces of Friesland, Groningen, and Drenthe. It is worth noting that in some historical records, the name is also spelled as "Bosma," "Bosmaa," or "Bosema," reflecting the regional variations in pronunciation and spelling conventions of the time.

One notable bearer of the Bosma surname was Pieter Bosma (1768-1842), a Dutch painter and engraver known for his landscapes and cityscapes. His works are held in various museums across the Netherlands, including the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

Another prominent figure was Joannes Bosma (1856-1932), a Dutch theologian and philosopher who served as a professor at the University of Groningen. He made significant contributions to the field of Protestant theology and wrote several influential works on religious ethics and philosophy.

In the 20th century, the Bosma name gained recognition through the achievements of Gerardus Bosma (1905-1986), a Dutch mathematician and astronomer. He specialized in celestial mechanics and made important contributions to the study of the motion of planets and comets.

The name Bosma has also been carried by several notable athletes, including Michiel Bosma (born 1976), a former professional cyclist from the Netherlands who competed in various cycling events, including the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España.

It is worth mentioning that while the Bosma surname has its roots in the Netherlands, it has also been adopted by people of Dutch descent in other parts of the world, particularly in countries like Canada, the United States, and South Africa, where Dutch immigrants settled over the centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bosma

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

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

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

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