Bowie is a Scottish and Irish surname. The name can be derived from the Gaelic nickname buidhe, meaning "yellow", "fair-haired". The surname can also be an Anglicised form of the Irish surname Ó Buadhaigh;[1][better source needed] this surname means "descendant of Buadhach" and is also rendered as Bogue and Boyce.[2][better source needed] The personal name Buadhach means "victorious". The surname Bowie is rendered in Scottish Gaelic as Buidheach (masculine)[3] and Bhuidheach (feminine), as well as Mac'IlleBhuidhe (masculine)[3] and Nic'IlleBhuidhe (feminine). Early instances of the surname in Scotland, recorded in 1481, are: Boye, Bowy, and Boee.[4][5]
Pronunciation | /ˈbuːi, ˈboʊi, ˈbaʊi/ BOO-ee, BOH-ee, BOW-ee |
---|---|
Gender | Unisex |
Language(s) | English |
Origin | |
Language(s) | 1. Scottish Gaelic 2. Irish |
Word/name | 1. buidhe 2. Ó Buadhaigh |
Meaning | 1. "yellow", "fair-haired" 2. "descendant of Buadhach" |
Other names | |
See also | Bogue; Buadhach; Buidheach; Bhuidheach; Ó Buadhaigh; Mac'IlleBhuidh; Nic'IlleBhuidh |
A family of the surname, the Bowie family, was one of the colonial families of Maryland with John Bowie Sr. being the first Bowie in the colony.[6]
People with the surname
edit- Alistair Bowie (born 1951), Scottish footballer
- Andrew Bowie (disambiguation), list of people with the name
- Angie Bowie (born 1949), American, former wife of David Bowie
- Angus M. Bowie (born 1949), British classicist
- Anthony Bowie (born 1963), American basketball player
- Arturo Valenzuela Bowie (Arturo Valenzuela, born 1944), Chilean-American academic
- Ash Bowie (born c.1968), American musician
- Beth Mburu-Bowie (born 1987), English musician
- Christopher Bowie (born 1966), Canadian swimmer
- David Bowie (1947–2016), musician, artist, and actor
- Don Bowie (climber) (born 1969), Canadian professional climber
- Don Bowie (footballer) (born 1940), Scottish footballer
- Eric A. Bowie (1936–2019), Canadian judge
- Fiona Bowie (born before 1990), Canadian artist
- George Washington Bowie (1827–1901), American who served in the Union army during the Civil War
- Gordon W. Bowie (before 1985–2012), American trombonist, composer and conductor
- Henry Pike Bowie (1848–1921), American lawyer, artist, author, Japanologist and diplomat
- Jac Bowie (born 1979), Australian burlesque producer
- James Bowie (c.1796–1836), 19th-century Texan revolutionary
- James Bowie (botanist) (c.1789–1869), English botanist
- James Bowie (footballer) (1888–1972), Scottish footballer
- Jamie Bowie (born 1989), British track and field athlete
- Jerome Bowie (d. 1597), Scottish master of the royal wine cellar
- Jim Bowie (baseball) (born 1965), Major League Baseball player
- Jimmy Bowie (1924–2000), Scottish footballer
- Joanne W. Bowie (active 1989–2004), American politician from North Carolina
- John Bowie (disambiguation), multiple people
- Joseph Bowie (born 1953), American bandleader, trombonist, and founder of the jazz fusion band Defunkt
- Larry Bowie (guard) (1939–2012), American Football guard
- Larry Bowie (running back) (born 1973), American Football running back
- Les Bowie (1913–79), Canadian-born special effects artist who worked mainly in Britain
- Lester Bowie (1941–99), American jazz musician
- Malcolm Bowie (1943–2007), British academic
- Micah Bowie (born 1974), American baseball player
- Michael Bowie (born 1991), American Football player
- Nate Bowie (born 1986), professional basketball player
- Norman E. Bowie (born 1942), American academic
- Oden Bowie (1826–94), American politician from Maryland [6]
- Reginald Bowie (1854–1926), American politician and businessman
- Rezin Bowie (1793–1841), American inventor and designer of the Bowie knife, politician in Louisiana
- Richard Bowie (1807–81), American politician from Maryland [7]
- Robert Bowie (1750–1818), American politician from Maryland [6]
- Robert R. Bowie (1909–2013), American diplomat
- Russell Bowie (1880–1959), Canadian ice hockey player
- Sam Bowie (born 1961), American basketball player
- Sam Bowie (rugby league) (born 1989), Australian rugby league player
- Stanley Bowie (1917–2008), Scottish geologist
- Sydney J. Bowie (1865–1928), U.S. Representative from Alabama
- Thomas Fielder Bowie (1808–69), American politician from Maryland[8]
- Tori Bowie (1990–2023), American long jumper
- Walter Bowie (1748–1810), American politician, delegate to the Annapolis Convention (1774–1776) [6]
- Walter Russell Bowie (1882–1969), American theologian
- Captain William Bowie (1721 – after 1776), American politician, delegate to the Annapolis Convention (1774–1776) [9]
- William Bowie (agrarian) (1776–1826), American agrarian and delegate to the Maryland state convention to charter the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal [6]
- William Bowie (footballer) (1869–1934), Scottish footballer
- William Bowie (engineer) (1872–1940), American geodetic engineer [10]
- William Duckett Bowie (1803–73) American politician from Maryland [6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Learn about the family history of your surname, Ancestry.com, retrieved 25 September 2010 which cited Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-508137-4. for the surname "Bowie".
- ^ Learn about the family history of your surname, Ancestry.com, retrieved 25 September 2010 which cited Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-508137-4. for the surname "Bogue" and "Boyce".
- ^ a b Mark, Colin (2006), The Gaelic-English Dictionary, London: Routledge, pp. 718, 720, ISBN 0-203-22259-8
- ^ Reaney, Percy Hilde (1995), Wilson, Richard Middlewood (ed.), A Dictionary of English Surnames (3rd ed.), Oxford University Press, p. 57, ISBN 0-19-863146-4.
- ^ Black, George Fraser (1946), The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning, and History, New York: New York Public Library, p. 92.
- ^ a b c d e f Hall, Clayton Colman (1912). Baltimore: Its History and Its People, vol.3. Lewis Historical Publishing Co. pp. 304–306.
- ^
- United States Congress. "Bowie (id: B000694)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- ^
- United States Congress. "Bowie (id: B000696)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
- ^ Hall, Clayton Colman (1912). Baltimore: Its History and Its People, vol.3. Lewis Historical Publishing Co. pp. 300–301.
- ^ Fleming, J. A. (1951), William Bowie, 1872–1940 A Biographical Memoir (PDF), Washington D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, pp. 61–63