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Bowker Family History

Bowker Name Meaning

English (mainly Manchester): occupational name for someone whose job was to steep cotton or linen in lye (a strong alkali) to cleanse it from Middle English bouker(e) boker(e) buker(e) ‘bleacher of cloth’. The name was also sometimes confused with Booker and sometimes perhaps a variant of Butcher with Norman French -k- for -ch-.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022


Similar surnames: Booker, Bowler, Bower, Boozer, Baker, Hawker, Corker, Bowyer, Bocker

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Hint: Try searching for a relative alive in 1940.

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Where is the Bowker family from?

You can see how Bowker families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Bowker family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Bowker families were found in United Kingdom in 1891. In 1911 there were 32 Bowker families living in Quebec. This was about 40% of all the recorded Bowker's in Canada. Quebec had the highest population of Bowker families in 1911.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Bowker surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.

What did your Bowker ancestors do for a living?

In 1921, Farmer and Nurse were the top reported jobs for men and women in the Canada named Bowker. 62% of Bowker men worked as a Farmer and 100% of Bowker women worked as a Nurse. .

View Census Data for Bowker | Data not to scale

*We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

Top Male Occupations In 1921

  • Farmer
    62%
  • Druggist
    8%
  • Farmers Son
    8%
  • Labourer
    8%

Top Female Occupations In 1921

  • Nurse
    100%
Black & white image of two construction labourers

What Bowker family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 68,000 census records available for the last name Bowker. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Bowker census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search Canadian census records for Bowker

Passenger Lists

There are 6,000 immigration records available for the last name Bowker. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in Canada, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

View all Bowker immigration records

Draft Cards

There are 7,000 military records available for the last name Bowker. For the veterans among your Bowker ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

View all Bowker military records

You've only scratched the surface of Bowker family history

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What is the average Bowker lifespan?

Between 1946 and 2004, in the United States, Bowker life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1946, and highest in 1958. The average life expectancy for Bowker in 1946 was 36, and 77 in 2004.

View Social Security Death Index (SSDI) for Bowker

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