NameCensus.

UK surname

Bouch

A surname potentially derived from the Old French "bouge" or "bouche," meaning a hut or dwelling.

In the 1881 census there were 357 people recorded with the Bouch surname, ranking it #8,652 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 364, ranked #12,748, down from #8,652 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Lancaster Borough, St Bees and King's Lynn St Margaret. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Carlisle, Allerdale and Cornwall.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Bouch is 431 in 1911. Compared with 1881, the name has stayed broadly stable by 2.0%.

1881 census count

357

Ranked #8,652

Modern count

364

2016, ranked #12,748

Peak year

1911

431 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Bouch had 357 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #8,652 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 364 in 2016, ranked #12,748.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 431 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Spacious Rural Living.

Bouch surname distribution map

The map shows where the Bouch surname is concentrated in each census or modern distribution year. Darker areas mean a stronger local concentration.

Distribution map

Bouch surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Bouch over time

The table below tracks recorded surname counts and rank from the 19th-century census years through the modern adult-register period.

Year Period Count Rank
1851 historical 268 #8,326
1861 historical 258 #9,603
1881 historical 357 #8,652
1891 historical 345 #9,944
1901 historical 363 #10,145
1911 historical 431 #8,789
1997 modern 399 #11,028
1998 modern 410 #11,143
1999 modern 405 #11,344
2000 modern 414 #11,127
2001 modern 384 #11,565
2002 modern 391 #11,627
2003 modern 392 #11,425
2004 modern 379 #11,740
2005 modern 379 #11,662
2006 modern 376 #11,775
2007 modern 367 #12,152
2008 modern 362 #12,384
2009 modern 371 #12,399
2010 modern 389 #12,251
2011 modern 364 #12,713
2012 modern 359 #12,698
2013 modern 372 #12,570
2014 modern 379 #12,483
2015 modern 374 #12,495
2016 modern 364 #12,748

Geography

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Where Bouchs are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Lancaster Borough, St Bees, King's Lynn St Margaret, London parishes and Wisbech St Peter. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Carlisle, Allerdale, Cornwall and Fenland. Treat these as concentration signals, not proof that every family line began there.

Some modern areas include a three-digit suffix, such as Leeds 110. The suffix is a small-area code, so it stays in the table while the prose uses the plain place name.

Top historical parishes

Rank Parish Area
1 Lancaster Borough Lancashire
2 St Bees Cumberland
3 King's Lynn St Margaret Norfolk
4 London parishes London 3
5 Wisbech St Peter Cambridgeshire

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Carlisle 007 Carlisle
2 Allerdale 003 Allerdale
3 Cornwall 047 Cornwall
4 Fenland 002 Fenland
5 Fenland 003 Fenland

Forenames

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First names often paired with Bouch

These lists show first names that appear often with the Bouch surname in historical and recent records.

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Bouch

Modern surname records can be compared with neighbourhood classifications. For Bouch, this points to the kinds of places where the surname is most concentrated today.

These neighbourhood labels describe areas, not individual people. They are useful because surnames often cluster through family history, migration, housing patterns and local work. A surname can be strongest in one type of neighbourhood even when people with that name live across the country.

The UK classification gives the national picture. The London classification is more specific to the capital, where housing, age profile, tenure and population mix can look quite different from the rest of the UK.

UK neighbourhood type

UK Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Retired Professionals

Group

Spacious Rural Living

Nationally, the Bouch surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Spacious Rural Living, within Retired Professionals. This does not mean every Bouch household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

These predominantly ageing households typically have no resident dependent children. Most are owner-occupiers and live in detached houses in low density residential developments (although renting is more common than in the rest of the Supergroup). White ethnicity predominates. Residents are typically beyond retirement age but those still in work have managerial, professional or skilled trade occupations. White ethnicity and Christian religious affiliation predominate. Neighbourhoods are located throughout rural UK.

Wider pattern

Typically married but no longer with resident dependent children, these well-educated households either remain working in their managerial, professional, administrative or other skilled occupations, or are retired from them – the modal individual age is beyond normal retirement age. Underoccupied detached and semi-detached properties predominate, and unpaid care is more prevalent than reported disability. The prevalence of this Supergroup outside most urban conurbations indicates that rural lifestyles prevail, typically sustained by using two or more cars per household.

London neighbourhood type

London Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Professional Employment and Family Lifecycles

Group

Inner London Working Professionals

Within London, Bouch is most associated with areas classed as Inner London Working Professionals, part of Professional Employment and Family Lifecycles. This gives the surname a London-specific profile rather than forcing the capital into the same pattern as the rest of the country.

Read profile summary

Group profile

These primarily Inner London neighbourhoods are more densely populated than the Supergroup average. Residents have a younger over-all age profile than the Supergroup as a whole, and are less likely to be owner occupiers. Full time employment is more common than elsewhere in the Supergroup and multiple car ownership is uncommon. Chinese and non-EU-born European migrants are less in evidence than elsewhere in the Supergroup.

Wider London pattern

These neighbourhoods house people of all ages, predominantly of White British or European extraction. Resident turnover is low. Religious affiliation is less common than average and tends to be Christian if expressed. Homeownership, typically of terraced houses, is common but use of the social rented sector is not. Employment is typically in professional, managerial and associate professional or technical occupations. There are few full-time students. Level 4 qualifications are common. More households lack dependent children than have them which, considered alongside low levels of crowding and over-all age structure, indicates that many households may be post child-rearing and in late middle age. Incidence of disability is low, as is residence in communal establishments.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Bouch is most concentrated in decile 6 for access to healthy assets and hazards. This places the surname near the middle of the scale.

Lower deciles point towards weaker access to healthy assets or stronger exposure to local hazards. Higher deciles point towards stronger access and fewer hazards.

6
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Bouch falls in decile 7 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname near the middle of the scale.

Decile 1 represents the more deprived end of the scale. Decile 10 represents the less deprived end.

7
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

The modern neighbourhood pattern for Bouch is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of 30-40 mbit/s.

The scale below places that band in context, from slower local download bands through to faster ones.

6
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

This describes the area pattern most associated with Bouch, not the ethnicity of every person with the surname.

Meaning and origin of Bouch

The surname "BOUCH" is believed to have originated in the English county of Northumberland. It likely dates back to the 12th or 13th century and is thought to be derived from the Old French word "bouche," meaning "mouth" or "estuary." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived near the mouth of a river or a coastal inlet.

One of the earliest recorded references to the name can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Northumberland from 1195, which mention a man named William Bouche. In the 13th century, a variant spelling "Bouch" appeared in the Assize Court Rolls of Yorkshire from 1260, referencing a person named Robert Bouch.

The Bouch surname is also associated with the village of Bouch, located in the parish of Redmarshall, County Durham. This place name, first recorded in the 13th century, may have influenced the spelling and pronunciation of the surname in that region.

Among notable individuals with the surname Bouch, one can mention Sir Thomas Bouch (1822-1880), a prominent English railway engineer responsible for designing the ill-fated Tay Bridge, which collapsed in 1879, causing a catastrophic train accident. Another notable figure was Michael Bouch (1609-1661), an English Puritan clergyman and religious writer.

In the 17th century, the Bouch name appeared in various records, including the Protestation Returns of 1641-1642, which listed several individuals with this surname in different counties of England. One such person was Thomas Bouch from the parish of St. Giles, Cripplegate, London.

During the 18th century, the Bouch surname spread to other parts of the British Isles, including Scotland and Ireland. Records from this period mention individuals like James Bouch, a merchant from Edinburgh, Scotland, who was active in the 1760s, and Patrick Bouch, an Irish landowner from County Down, born in the early 1700s.

By the 19th century, the Bouch name had also found its way to other English-speaking countries through emigration. For instance, John Bouch (1792-1872), an English-born civil engineer, worked on several major infrastructure projects in Australia, including the construction of the Sydney Railway Terminus.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Bouch families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Bouch surname. Use the location tables for concentration, then the name and occupation tables for the people behind the surname.

Top counties

Total is the county count. Frequency and index adjust for local population size, so they are better concentration signals. Cumberland leads with 129 Bouchs recorded in 1881 and an index of 43.39x.

County Total Index
Cumberland 129 43.39x
Lancashire 55 1.34x
Middlesex 26 0.75x
Surrey 23 1.37x
Cambridgeshire 20 9.14x
Norfolk 20 3.77x
Durham 17 1.65x
Cheshire 9 1.18x
Devon 9 1.25x
Yorkshire 9 0.26x
Anglesey 8 13.07x
Northamptonshire 6 1.85x
Midlothian 5 1.08x
Kent 4 0.34x
Isle of Man 3 4.68x
Lincolnshire 3 0.54x
Staffordshire 3 0.26x
Essex 1 0.15x
Hampshire 1 0.14x
Nottinghamshire 1 0.21x
Perthshire 1 0.65x
Sussex 1 0.17x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Aspatria in Cumberland leads with 45 Bouchs recorded in 1881 and an index of 1573.43x.

Place Total Index
Aspatria 45 1573.43x
Kings Lynn St Margaret 17 106.65x
Caldewgate 16 98.22x
Wisbech St Peter 16 145.85x
Layton With Warbreck 11 73.14x
Hensingham 10 411.52x
Stoke Damerel 9 17.89x
Toxteth Park 9 6.49x
Workington 9 52.88x
Harraton 8 400.00x
Holyhead 8 70.11x
Lancaster 8 32.81x
Bewcastle 7 666.67x
Egremont 7 98.73x
Kingston On Thames 7 17.32x
Mile End Old Town London 7 9.53x
Battersea 6 4.72x
Manchester 6 3.26x
Peterborough 6 25.52x
Whitehaven 6 37.85x
Edinburgh Buccleuch 5 45.70x
Everton 5 3.83x
Liscard 5 36.42x
Papcastle 5 602.41x
Shoreditch London 5 3.34x
Castle Carrock 4 1142.86x
Chorlton On Medlock 4 6.15x
Gateshead 4 5.20x
Hanwell 4 65.36x
Liverpool 4 1.61x
March 4 54.64x
Nantwich 4 45.15x
North Burton 4 625.00x
Shincliffe 4 347.83x
St George Hanover Square 4 6.57x
Bootle Cum Linacre 3 9.22x
Bromley 3 16.70x
Cleator 3 24.25x
Onchan 3 16.24x
Penrith 3 27.32x
Sutton St Mary 3 57.47x
Warwick 3 789.47x
Bermondsey 2 1.95x
Falsgrave 2 39.68x
Kensington London 2 1.04x
Ockham 2 307.69x
Scarborough 2 6.43x
Stoke Upon Trent 2 1.62x
Wetheral 2 50.76x
Clapham 1 2.32x
Crosscanonby 1 10.17x
Crumpsall 1 10.35x
East Dereham 1 14.90x
East Meon 1 54.05x
Eastbourne 1 3.73x
Great Yarmouth 1 2.27x
Hammersmith London 1 1.18x
Hethersgill 1 142.86x
High Bolton 1 312.50x
Hornsey 1 2.29x
Keswick 1 26.32x
Kirkdale 1 1.45x
Lambeth 1 0.33x
Lower Darwen 1 18.59x
Newington 1 0.78x
Penge 1 4.53x
Perth Middle Church 1 17.15x
Sculcoates 1 1.84x
Sevenoaks 1 10.47x
Shouldham Thorpe 1 303.03x
St Cuthbert W O 1 6.90x
St Pancras London 1 0.36x
Stretford 1 4.44x
Tamworth 1 16.05x
Thursby 1 158.73x
Walton On Thames 1 12.94x
Waverton 1 175.44x
West Derby 1 0.83x
West Ham 1 0.66x
Wolsingham 1 10.68x

Top female names

These are the female first names most often recorded with the Bouch surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
Mary 27
Sarah 16
Jane 15
Elizabeth 11
Margaret 9
Ann 8
Annie 7
Martha 7
Hannah 5
Eliza 4
Ellen 4
Alice 3
Emily 3
Isabella 3
Margt. 3
Anne 2
Caroline 2
Elizth. 2
Emma 2
Esther 2
Harriet 2
Helen 2
Julia 2
May 2
Betsey 1
Betsy 1
Betty 1
Blanche 1
Catherine 1
Charlotte 1
Christinana 1
Dorcas 1
Edith 1
Elaine 1
Eleanor 1
Elisabeth 1
Elizh 1
Evelyn 1
Flora 1
Francis 1
Grace 1
Henrietta 1
Janet 1
Janett 1
Julianah 1
Kate 1
Laura 1
Leila 1
Maria 1
Marsey 1

Top male names

These are the male first names most often recorded with the Bouch surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
John 33
William 22
Joseph 16
Thomas 13
James 7
George 6
Charles 4
Henry 4
Jonathan 4
Albert 3
Alfred 3
Samuel 3
Christopher 2
Douglas 2
Edward 2
Edwin 2
Ernest 2
Frederick 2
Herbert 2
Jeffery 2
Richard 2
Robert 2
Walter 2
Arnold 1
Arthur 1
Cephus 1
Chas.Hy. 1
Christimas 1
Duglas 1
Frank 1
Fred 1
Harry 1
Isaac 1
Jacob 1
Jane 1
Jeffrey 1
Johnathan 1
Jonah 1
Kendall 1
Lancelot 1
Luther 1
Matt. 1
Oliver 1
Percival 1
Percy 1
Ralph 1
Summers 1
Thos. 1
Vincent 1
Walisgriff 1

FAQ

Bouch surname: questions and answers

How common was the Bouch surname in 1881?

In 1881, 357 people were recorded with the Bouch surname. That placed it at #8,652 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Bouch surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 364 in 2016. That gives Bouch a modern rank of #12,748.

What does the Bouch surname mean?

A surname potentially derived from the Old French "bouge" or "bouche," meaning a hut or dwelling.

What does the Bouch map show?

The map shows local surname concentration for the selected year. Darker areas have a stronger concentration of Bouch bearers relative to the surrounding population.

What records is this surname page based on?

The historical counts come from census surname records. The modern counts and neighbourhood summaries come from later surname distribution records. Counts are recorded bearers in those records, not a live estimate of everyone with the name today.