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

Boss, 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 Boss surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Boss in America

Boss is the 4154th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Boss surname appeared 8,529 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Boss.

We can also compare 2010 data for Boss 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 Boss

The surname BOSS is believed to have originated in England and Scotland. It is likely derived from the Old English word 'boce' or 'boc', which referred to a badger or a wooded area inhabited by badgers. The name may have initially been a descriptive nickname or an occupational name for someone who lived near or worked in a wooded area.

The earliest known record of the surname BOSS can be found in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire, which dates back to 1273. The entry mentions a person named 'Robert le Boche', which is an early spelling variation of the name.

In Scotland, the name BOSS is thought to have originated from the place name 'Bossenden' or 'Bosenden' in Kent, England. This place name is derived from the Old English words 'boc' (badger) and 'denu' (valley), suggesting that the name may have referred to someone who lived in the "valley of the badgers".

During the Middle Ages, the surname BOSS appeared in various records and manuscripts. For instance, the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire from 1379 mention a person named 'William Bosse'. Similarly, the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex from 1524 include the name 'Thomas Bouse'.

Notable individuals with the surname BOSS throughout history include:

1. William Boss (c. 1561-1590), an English translator and author who published works on navigation and astronomy.
2. Abraham Boss (1637-1681), a Dutch painter known for his still-life and genre paintings.
3. Lewis Boss (1846-1912), an American astronomer and the fourth director of the Dudley Observatory in New York.
4. Benjamin Boss (1880-1970), an American chess master and one of the strongest players in the United States during the early 20th century.
5. Edgar Boss (1888-1968), a Swiss philosopher and existential psychologist known for his contributions to the field of phenomenology and existential analysis.

The surname BOSS has also been associated with various place names, such as Bossiney in Cornwall, England, and Bossall in North Yorkshire, England. These place names likely share the same etymological roots as the surname, reflecting the connection between the name and wooded or badger-inhabited areas.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Boss

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

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

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

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