Show ContentsBolyard History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

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

Early Origins of the Bolyard family

The surname Bolyard 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 Bolyard family

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

Bolyard Spelling Variations

During the Middle Ages, surnames were spelt by scribes solely based on how it sounded, one's name could have been recorded many different ways during the life of its bearer. Numerous spelling variations were revealed in the search for the origin of the name Bolyard family name. Variations found include 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 Bolyard family

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

Bolyard Ranking

In the United States, the name Bolyard is the 9,056th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Migration of the Bolyard family

Under the rule of England, land ownership in Ireland changed dramatically, and many native Irish families found themselves renting out land to farm from absentee owners. This was one of the prime reasons that immigration to North America began in the late 18th century: Irish farmers dreamed of owning their own parcel of land to work for themselves. At this point, the immigrants were at least of modest means for the passage across the Atlantic was often quite dear. In the 1840s the Great Potato Famine created an exodus of people of quite different means. These people were most often destitute: they either sold anything they had to gain a passage or they were sponsored by philanthropic societies. Many of these immigrants were sick from disease and starvation: as a result many did not survive the long transatlantic journey. Although those settlers that did survive were often despised and discriminated against by people already established in these nations, they were critical to rapid development of the powerful industrial nations of the United States and the country that would later become known as Canada. An examination of immigration and passenger lists shows many persons bearing the name of Bolyard or one of its variants: James Boland who arrived in New England in 1764; Dominic, Francis, James, and John Boland, all arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1860; Jeremiah Boland arrived in Quebec, Canada, in 1825.


Contemporary Notables of the name Bolyard (post 1700) +

  • Charlie Bolyard, American co-founder of McDonough Bolyard Peck, Inc. (1989), a construction management company based in Fairfax, Virginia
  • Earl B. "Whistlin' Earl" Bolyard (1912-1988), American Minor League Baseball Player and manager
  • John W. Bolyard, American fighter pilot and flying ace in the U.S. Army Air Forces, during World War II, credited with 5 aerial victories


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


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