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]

Bowie
Pronunciation/ˈbi, ˈbi, ˈbi/ BOO-ee, BOH-ee, BOW-ee
GenderUnisex
Language(s)English
Origin
Language(s)1. Scottish Gaelic
2. Irish
Word/name1. buidhe
2. Ó Buadhaigh
Meaning1. "yellow", "fair-haired"
2. "descendant of Buadhach"
Other names
See alsoBogue; 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

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ 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".
  2. ^ 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".
  3. ^ a b Mark, Colin (2006), The Gaelic-English Dictionary, London: Routledge, pp. 718, 720, ISBN 0-203-22259-8
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Black, George Fraser (1946), The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning, and History, New York: New York Public Library, p. 92.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^
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  9. ^ Hall, Clayton Colman (1912). Baltimore: Its History and Its People, vol.3. Lewis Historical Publishing Co. pp. 300–301.
  10. ^ Fleming, J. A. (1951), William Bowie, 1872–1940 A Biographical Memoir (PDF), Washington D.C.: National Academy of Sciences, pp. 61–63