Surname Bouck - Meaning and Origin
all surnames with 'B'
Bouck: What does the surname Bouck mean?
The last name Bouck is of German, Dutch, and North German origin and is believed to be derived from the Middle High German word "buoch"—which means 'book' in English. It is possible, though not certain, that the name Bouck may have originally referred to someone who sold or made books.
Alternatively, the name Bouck might originate from the Germanic personal name Bodo or Buko, which is related to the Old High German 'buogan' meaning 'to bend or bow.' It is likely that this personal name was used as a nickname to refer to someone who was physically bent over.
In Germany, the surname Bouck is most commonly found in the states of Bavaria, Saxony, and Thuringia. In the United States, the spelling has been changed to Bouse, Bouce, Bousk, Bowe, or Bouke.
A variant of 'Bouck' which has continued in Germany is Bougheim. While Bouck is derived from 'buoch' or 'bodo', Bougheim is derived from the Middle High German term 'burcm' which means 'hill' or 'mountain'.
Regardless of its etymological roots, most descendants of the Bouck family share the same religious affiliation—Lutheran. This reflects the history of the region from which the name originated; Prussia (now a part of Germany) was a largely Lutheran area during the Middle Ages.
Today, the Bouck surname is a reminder of the enterprising individuals who originally held it—entrepreneurs, tradesmen, and those with a propensity for 'bending the rules' (metaphorically, of course). It is a moniker that is rich in symbolism and history, proudly upheld by their descendants for centuries.
Order DNA origin analysisBouck: Where does the name Bouck come from?
The last name Bouck is of German and Dutch origin, and is found primarily in the North American and European countries.
In the United States, the last name Bouck is most commonly found in Pennsylvania, with a larger percentage of people bearing the name Bouck concentrated in the Upper Midwest. Ohio, Indiana, New York, Iowa, Michigan, and Illinois are other states where the name is commonly found. Canada holds the highest concentration of Bouck's than any other region, with the majority of bearers located in Ontario.
The United Kingdom is another region where the Bouck last name persists. Records from the 1881 British Census, the most comprehensive of its time, shows that over one hundred people had Bouck as their last name.
In Europe, Bouck is found most frequently in the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland. Fewer bearers of the name can be found in France, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
Austria, Denmark, and Sweden have shown sparse records of Bouck’s, with numbers deteriorating further as one moves to the east.牋O For Eastern European countries like Serbia, Poland, and Belarus, the name Bouck is relatively rare.
In other parts of the world, the name Bouck can be found in Australia and New Zealand in isolated pockets of major cities such as Sydney and Auckland. In Asia, Singapore and Japan have seen miniscule concentrations of people bearing the name.
All in all, the last name Bouck is most commonly found in the North American and European countries, particularly in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland.
Variations of the surname Bouck
The surname Bouck is a variant of the German surname Bauck, used mostly in the United States. It is derived from the German word bauch, meaning “belly” and, as a byname, originated in Germany centuries ago. The surname is most strongly associated with the ancestral and family home of the Bauck family in eastern Prussia and northern Poland.
Variants of Bouck include Bouckas, Boucs, Boucke, Boukes, and Bauck. Spellings of the name Bouck are Bauck, Bauch, Bauk, Bauck, Bouk and also Bouck. The surnames Bauk or Bauck can be found in Holland and Germany today.
The variant spelling of Bouck is found repeatedly in the United States in the 1800s, in church, residence, and other records. In the history of the United States pre-World War II, the Bauck/Bouck variants were a prominent family of German-Americans in the Midwest. While different branches of the Bauck/Bouck family resided in various states, they often worked and lived in close proximity to each other.
Surnames with a similar origin to the Bouck surname include Bleick, Böck, Boyck, Boye, Bück, Fock, Föck, Fuecke, Hueck, Huecke, Mageck, Töck, and Vueck. Different spellings of Vueck, in particular, are found in Germany, France, and the United States. Each of these surnames should also be kept in mind when researching the family history and origins of Baucks/Boucks.
Famous people with the name Bouck
- William Bouck (1786: 1859): the 20th Governor of New York State, in office from 1843 to 1844.
- Clara Bouck Richmond (1856: 1929): leading American philanthropist and women’s rights advocate.
- Augustus Van Horne Bouck (1837: 1918): American Member of the New York State Senate from 1877 to 1878.
- John C. Bouck (1833: 1896): American Civil War veteran and Member of the New York State Senate from 1875 to 1876.
- Robert Bouck (b. 1959): current Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in the U.S Department of Homeland Security.
- Nathaniel C. Bouck (1815: 1898): American businessman and industrialist who established the Bouck Magazine educational publishing house.
- Alfred Bouck (1899: 1995): prominent American physicist who invented the Bouck-Bell nuclear reactor.
- Hubertus W. Bouck (b. 1978): Dutch international football player who played for Dutch Gouda FC.
- Paul J. Bouck (1906: 1987): American arachnologist and entomologist.
- Marie Bouck Bush (1886: 1980): American museum director who served as the Director of the Carnegie Institute’s department of fine arts from 1941 to 1952.