Show ContentsBodde History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The Bodde surname is derived from German word "boden," which means "floor" or "bottom." It is thought that the first Bodde family may have lived in the bottom of a valley.

Early Origins of the Bodde family

The surname Bodde was first found in the duchy of Brunswick, where the name emerged in mediaeval times as one of the notable families of the region. From the 13th century the surname was identified with the great social and economic evolution which made this territory a landmark contributor to the development of the nation.

Early History of the Bodde family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bodde research. Another 243 words (17 lines of text) covering the years 1707, 1713, 1720, 1730, 1740, 1747, 1793 and 1832 are included under the topic Early Bodde History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bodde Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Bode, Boden, Boder, Bohde, Bohden, Boede, Boedde and many more.

Early Notables of the Bodde family

Notables of the time included Johann Joachim Bode (1720-1793), who was a prominent publisher and translator in Weimar, as well as a friend and business partner of the great Lessing. Johann Joachim Christoph Bode was born at Barum in Brunswick in 1730. He had a strange and varied life as bassoon and oboe-player, composer, newspaper editor...
Another 55 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bodde Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Bodde migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Bodde Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • M A Bodde, who arrived in America in 1843 [1]

New Zealand Bodde migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Bodde Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
  • Mr. Henry Bodde, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Joseph Fletcher" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 18th August 1859 [2]

Contemporary Notables of the name Bodde (post 1700) +

  • William Bodde Jr. (b. 1931), American diplomat, 2nd United States Ambassador to the Marshall Islands (1992-1995), 4th United States Ambassador to Fiji (1980-1981)
  • Derk Bodde (1909-2003), American Sinologist and historian of China, former president of the American Oriental Society (1968-1969)


  1. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  2. New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html


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