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    The surname Boston

    An English place surname, carried by 15,814 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /ˈbɔstən/ 2 syllables Soundex B235 Also a first name

    Boston: #2,309 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#10,001Dubon Boston #2,309, 15,814 people Boston: #2,309 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Boston #2,309, 15,814 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Boston is more common than 98.6% of them.

    Origin

    English origin

    The US city is named after the English town (from which several prominent colonists had come), which itself is sometimes said to be named as a contraction of Botolph's town or Botolph's stone (the name Botolph itself coming from Old English Botwulf, from boda + wulf). However, this is uncertain.

    Boston is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

    One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 15,814 people named Boston in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 19,524 Americans. That is up 5.4% since 2000, when the Census counted 15,003.

    #2,309
    rank among US surnames
    15,814
    people in 2010
    5.4
    per 100,000 Americans
    +5.4%
    change since 2000 (was #2,223)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #2,300Wetzel15,84919,480
    #2,301Mock15,84719,483
    #2,302Parham15,84619,484
    #2,304Hutson15,83519,498
    #2,305Aponte15,82819,506
    #2,306Jolly15,82719,508
    #2,307Stauffer15,82119,515

    Who is named Boston

    Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

    53% of people named Boston identified as white (not Hispanic), 41% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.8% as two or more races.

    • White (not Hispanic) 53%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 41%
    • Two or more races 2.8%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.8%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Bostons

    4 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Rachel Boston
      American actress, born 1982
    • Aliyah Boston
      American basketball player (born 2001)
    • Lawrence Boston
      American basketball player, born 1956
    • Brandon Boston Jr.
      American basketball player (born 2001)

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like Boston

    Boston has the Soundex code B235, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code B235.

    Other English surnames

    All 1,446 English surnames

    Questions

    Where does the surname Boston come from?
    The US city is named after the English town (from which several prominent colonists had come), which itself is sometimes said to be named as a contraction of Botolph's town or Botolph's stone (the name Botolph itself coming from Old English Botwulf, from boda + wulf). However, this is uncertain.
    How common is the surname Boston?
    15,814 people in the United States had the surname Boston in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 19,524 Americans. It ranked 2,309th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Boston?
    In the 2010 Census, 53% of people named Boston identified as white (not Hispanic), and 41% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Boston?
    Rachel Boston, American actress, followed by Aliyah Boston.
    Where is the surname Boston most common?
    Wikidata records people named Boston in the United States.
    How do you pronounce Boston?
    Boston is /ˈbɔstən/, 2 syllables.
    What type of surname is Boston?
    Boston is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
    Is the surname Boston getting more or less common?
    More common. 15,003 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 15,814 in 2010, up 5.4%.
    Is Boston also a first name?
    Yes. Boston is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.