Show ContentsBoer History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Etymology of Boer

What does the name Boer mean?

The Danish surname Boer has the same entomology as the German / Jewish name Bauer. It was essentially a status surname, meaning either "peasant" or "neighbor." The name came originally from the Middle High German word "bur," referring to a small dwelling or building, which it turn evolved from the Old High German word "buan," meaning "to cultivate."

Boer Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Bauer, Boere, Boer, Pauer, Bohr and others.

Early Notables of the Boer family

Caspar Bohrer, born 1744 at Mannheim, trumpeter in the court band who was a remarkable performer on the double-bass; called to Munich in 1778, and died there Nov. 4, 1809. His son and pupil Anton, born at Munich, 1783, learned the violin from Kreutzer, and composition from Winter and Danzi, and became violin-player in the court orchestra at Munich. With his brother Max (born 1785) he undertook in 1810 an extensive tour, ending in Russia, where they narrowly escaped transportation to Siberia as employés of the...
Another 86 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Boer Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Boer Ranking

In the United States, the name Boer is the 17,438th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1 However, in Netherlands, the name Boer is ranked the 56th most popular surname with an estimated 14,774 people with that name. 2


Boer migration to the United States +



Boer Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Teunis Dircksen Boer, who landed in New York in 1662 3
Boer Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Cornelus Den Boer, who landed in America in 1846 3
  • H M Boer, aged 32, who landed in New York, NY in 1847 3
  • Hendrik Goosens Boer, aged 30, who landed in New York, NY in 1847 3
  • Jan Boer, aged 18, who arrived in New York, NY in 1848 3
  • Hendrik Boer, aged 3, who arrived in New York, NY in 1848 3
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Boer (post 1700) +

  • Jonnie Boer (1965-2025), Dutch Michelin star winning head chef and co-owner of the restaurant De Librije in Zwolle, Netherlands
  • Jan Gerard Wessels Boer (b. 1936), Dutch plant taxonomist
  • Thorsten Boer (b. 1968), German football manager and former player
  • Ronaldus "Ronald" de Boer (b. 1970), former Dutch football midfielder
  • William De Boer (1871-1951), American Republican politician, Member of Michigan State House of Representatives from Kent County 1st District, 1915-16, 1925-28; Defeated, 1912, 1916, 1930, 1932 4


  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  2. "Most Common Last Names in Netherlands." Forebears, https://forebears.io/netherlands/surnames
  3. 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)
  4. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, December 1) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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