Bowden (pronounced or ) is an English surname of

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...

(

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

) origins. In Old English it translates roughly into "dweller by the top of a hill", and is also the name of the towns of Bowden, Ashprington, and Bowden, Yealmpton, in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, as well as Bowden, Derbyshire. There is also a town of Bowden in rural

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire ...

which was recorded as "Bugedone" in

the Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manu ...

People with the surname Bowden

* Adam Bowden (born 1982), British international track athlete *

Andrew Bowden Sir Andrew Bowden (born 8 April 1930) is a British Conservative Party politician. From 2004 to 2010, he was an international consultant at Global Equities Corporation. Early life Bowden was born the son of William Victor Bowden, a solicitor, an ...

(born 1930), British Conservative politician * B. V. Bowden, Baron Bowden (1910–1989), English scientist and educationist * Ben Bowden (born 1994), American baseball player * Benjamin Bowden (1906–1998), English automobile and bicycle designer *

Billy Bowden Brent Fraser "Billy" Bowden (born 11 April 1963) is a cricket umpire from New Zealand. He was a player until he began to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. He is well known for his dramatic signaling style which includes the famous "crooked finge ...

(born 1963), international cricket umpire from New Zealand * Breck Bowden, American environmental scientist * A notable American football coaching family: **

Bobby Bowden Robert Cleckler Bowden (; November 8, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was an American college football coach. Bowden coached the Florida State Seminoles of Florida State University (FSU) from 1976 to 2009 and is considered one of the greatest college ...

(1929–2021), American football coach of several college programs, most notably Florida State University ** Tommy Bowden (born 1954), son of Bobby; former coach at several programs, most recently Clemson University ** Terry Bowden (born 1956), son of Bobby; motivational speaker, college football analyst and current University of Akron coach **

Jeff Bowden Jeff Bowden () is an American college football coach. He served as the special teams coordinator and the outside wide receivers coach at Akron. Before that he served as the offensive coordinator for the Florida State Seminoles under his father an ...

(born ), son of Bobby; assistant at several programs, currently at Akron under Terry *

Charles Bowden Charles Clyde Bowden (July 20, 1945 – August 30, 2014) was an American non-fiction author, journalist and essayist based in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Background He attended the University of Arizona and then the University of Wisconsin, where h ...

(1886–1972), New Zealand politician *

(1945–2014), American author, journalist, and essayist * Claude Bowden (1897–1984), British air force officer and aeromodeller *

Daniel Bowden Daniel Russell Bowden (born 1 April 1986) is a New Zealand rugby union player, currently playing for in the Mitre 10 Cup. Bowden played three seasons for the Northland Taniwha in the National Provincial Championship. He debuted at the age of ...

(born 1986), New Zealand rugby union player * David Bowden (1937–2004), Australian Anglican bishop *

Dominic Bowden Dominic Joseph Bowden (born 15 December 1977) is a New Zealand television personality, host and voice actor. He is best known as the host of New Zealand reality series including ''New Zealand Idol, Dancing with the Stars New Zealand and The X F ...

(born 1977), New Zealand television presenter * Doug Bowden (1927–2021), New Zealand cricketer *

Eric Bowden Eric Kendall Bowden (30 September 1871 – 13 February 1931) was an Australian politician. A solicitor by profession, he served as Minister for Defence from 1923 to 1925, under Prime Minister Stanley Bruce. He was a member of the House of Repr ...

(1871–1931), Australian solicitor and politician * Francis C. Bowden (1903–1972), American pharmacist, mayor of Anchorage, Alaska 1946-1948 *

Sir Frank Bowden, 1st Baronet Sir Frank Bowden, 1st Baronet, (30 January 1848 – 25 April 1921) was a British businessman and inventor. He was a founder of the Raleigh Bicycle Company. Biography Frank Bowden was born in Devon, England, and made a fortune in property develo ...

(1848–1921), British businessman, founder of the Raleigh Bicycle Company *

Gerald Bowden Gerald Francis Bowden (26 August 1935 – 7 January 2020) was a British Conservative MP, who represented Dulwich from 1983 until 1992. He was defeated by future Labour cabinet minister Tessa Jowell in the 1992 general election. Career He was ...

(1935–2020), British Conservative politician *

Harold Bowden Sir Harold Bowden, 2nd Baronet, GBE (9 July 1880 – 24 August 1960), was the chairman and chief executive of the Raleigh Bicycle Company and Sturmey-Archer Ltd from his father's death in 1921 until his own retirement in 1938. He also served as P ...

(1880–1960), son of Frank Bowden, American-born British businessman * Harry Bowden (1907–1965), American artist * Herbert Bowden, Baron Aylestone (1905–1994), British Labour politician * Herbert Bowden (footballer) (1888–1978), Australian rules footballer *

Jack Bowden John Bowden (17 October 1916 – 22 December 1988) was an Irish cricketer and field hockey player. He was born and died in County Antrim. Cricket A right-handed batsman and pelvis-break bowler, he made his debut for Ireland in July 1946 a ...

(1916–1988), Irish cricketer and field hockey player * James Bowden (American football) (born 1973), American football player * James Bowden (footballer) (1880–1951), English footballer * Jamie Bowden (born 1960), British diplomat *

Jim Bowden (baseball) James Goodwin Bowden IV (born May 18, 1961) is an American baseball analyst. He is a co-host of SiriusXM's "Inside Pitch" on MLB Network Radio and a columnist for The Athletic. He previously worked for ESPN, writing a blog for ESPN.com titled ...

(born 1961), general manager of the Washington Nationals baseball team *

Joel Bowden Joel Francis Bowden (born 21 June 1978) is an Australian politician, former union leader and former professional Australian rules footballer. He was elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly at the 2020 Johnston by-election, repres ...

(born 1978), Australian rules footballer *

Jonathan Bowden Jonathan David Anthony Bowden (12 April 1962 – 29 March 2012) was an English painter, novelist, essayist, playwright, actor, orator and activist. Initially a Conservative, he later became involved in far-right organisations such as the Briti ...

(1962–2012), right-wing British political figure *

Katrina Bowden Katrina Bowden (born September 19, 1988) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Cerie on the NBC sitcom ''30 Rock'' (2006–2013) and as Flo Fulton on the CBS daytime soap opera ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (2019–prese ...

(born 1988), American actress *

Lemuel J. Bowden Lemuel Jackson Bowden (January 16, 1815January 2, 1864) was an American lawyer and politician from Williamsburg, Virginia. Early life Bowden was born in 1815 in Williamsburg, Virginia, and graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1831-1 ...

(1815–1864), American lawyer and politician * Lilan Bowden (born 1985), American actress and comedian *

Lynn Bowden Lynn Bowden Jr. (born October 14, 1997) is an American football wide receiver for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Kentucky where he was the team's starting quarterback for seven g ...

(born 1997), American football player *

Mark Bowden (English author) Mark Bowden is an American author on body language and human behavior. Bowden is credited with pioneering Nonverbal communication, nonverbal analysis of human behavior where it pertains to influence and/or persuasion. His techniques have been used ...

(born 1970), British writer on body language *

Mark Bowden Mark Robert Bowden (; born July 17, 1951) is an American journalist and writer. He is a national correspondent for ''The Atlantic''. He is best known for his book '' Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War'' (1999) about the 1993 U.S. military r ...

(born 1951), American writer *

Michael Bowden (Australian rules footballer) Michael John Bowden (21 March 1947 – 11 April 2020) was an Australian rules football player and Indigenous advocate. Bowden played 59 matches for the Richmond Football Club in the VFL between 1967 and 1971. Following his playing career he ...

Michael Bowden (baseball) Michael Matthew Bowden (born September 9, 1986) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs, in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) ...

(born 1986), American baseball pitcher *

Monty Bowden Montague Parker Bowden (1 November 1865 – 19 February 1892) was an English first-class cricketer, a wicket-keeper, who played two Test matches against South Africa in 1888/89. Bowden was born in Stockwell, Surrey, and educated at Dulwich Col ...

(1865–1892), English cricketer and wicket-keeper *

Mwata Bowden Mwata Bowden (born October 11, 1947 in Memphis, Tennessee, United States) is an American jazz reeds player associated with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and an instructor in improvisational Jazz at the University of C ...

(born 1947), American jazz reeds player *

Norris Bowden Robert Norris Bowden (August 13, 1926 – April 9, 1991) was a Canadian figure skater. Born in Toronto, Ontario, Bowden won championships in every division of Canadian figure skating. He was national men's champion as a junior and senior (1947) ...

(1926–1991), Canadian figure skater * Oswald Bowden (1912–1977), English footballer *

Patrick Bowden Patrick Bowden (born 4 August 1981) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. Football career Western Bulldogs In the 1999 National AFL Draft, Bowden was a fourth-round selection (no. 58 overall) to the Wes ...

(born 1981), Australian rules footballer *

Ray Bowden Edwin Raymond Bowden (13 September 1909 – 23 September 1998) was an English footballer who played as an inside forward. He scored 130 goals from 316 appearances in the Football League, playing for Plymouth Argyle, Arsenal and Newcastle Un ...

(1909–1998), English footballer *

Richard Bowden Pinkard & Bowden was an American country music duo composed of singer-songwriters James "Sandy" Pinkard and Richard Bowden (), who also play guitar and bass guitar. The duo's music comprises a mix of musical parody and original comedy songs. Pinka ...

(born 1945), American country singer of the "Pinkard & Bowden" duo * Ron Bowden (born 1942), Australian politician * Sandra Bowden (born 1943), American artist and painter * Vivian Lee Bowden (1943–2017), American science journalist

References

{{Reflist English-language surnames