Bolen History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Belgium
Germany
Ireland

In its ancient Gaelic form, the Irish name Bolen was written Ó Beollain, formed from a Norse personal name. 1

Early Origins of the Bolen family

The surname Bolen was first found in counties Clare and Sligo (Irish: Sligeach), in the province of Connacht in Northwestern Ireland, where they held a family seat.

Early History of the Bolen family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bolen research. Another 144 words (10 lines of text) covering the year 1014 is included under the topic Early Bolen History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bolen Spelling Variations

One explanation for the many variations is that scribes and church officials frequently spelled the name as it sounded: an imprecise method at best. Understandably then, various spellings of the surname Bolen were found in the many archives researched. These included Boland, Bolan, Boland, O'Boland, O'Bolan, Bolend, Bolen, Bolland, Bollan, Bollend, Bollen, Bowland, Bowlan, Bowlin, Boulland, Bollander, Bolander, Bollinder, Bolinder, Bollendar, Bolendar, Bollandar, Bowlander, Boulander, Bouland and many more.

Early Notables of the Bolen family

More information is included under the topic Early Bolen Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bolen Ranking

In the United States, the name Bolen is the 3,904^th most popular surname with an estimated 7,461 people with that name. 2

Bolen migration to the United States +

A great wave of Irish migration occurred during the 19th century as a direct result of English colonial rule and tight-fisted absentee landlords. Many of these Irish immigrants boarded passenger ships bound for North America. Those who migrated early enough were given land in either British North America or the United States; those who came in the late 19th century were typically employed in industrial centers as laborers. At whatever age they undertook the dangerous passage to North America, those Irish immigrants were essential to the speedy development of the two infant nations to which they arrived, whether they broke and settled land, helped build canals, bridges, and railroads, or produced products for consumer consumption. An examination of immigration and passenger lists has uncovered a large number of immigrants bearing the name Bolen or one of its variants:

Bolen Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Nicholas Bolen, aged 37, who landed in New York in 1801 3
William Bolen, who arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1852
John Bolen, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County Pennsylvania in 1872 3

Bolen migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Bolen Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

James Bolen, who landed in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1843

Contemporary Notables of the name Bolen (post 1700) +

David Benjamin Bolen (1923-2022), American track and field athlete, Olympian, diplomat and businessman, United States Ambassador to East Germany (1977-1980)
Brock Bolen (b. 1985), American football fullback
Stewart O'Neal Bolen (1902-1969), former Major League Baseball pitcher
Lin Bolen (b. 1941), American television executive, best known as the NBC Daytime Television Programming Vice President (1972 to 1978)
Jon Bolen, American professional wrestler and bodybuilder

Citations +

MacLysaght, Edward, The Surnames of Ireland. Ireland: Irish Academic Press, sixth edition, 1985. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2366-3)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)