Boston

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Boston

Gender: Masculine
Language: English
Etymology:
Boston is a name of a famous English city, and a famous American city (named for the English one). The name is a contraction of “St. Botolph’s Town.” As it likely grew up around a church devoted to St. Botolph.

History:
The use of Boston as a first name began in the 19th century, either as a transferred surname (to honor the surname Boston) or in honor of the famous Massachusetts’s city.

Naming children in honor of American places was not all that uncommon in the 19th century, especially for places of great historical or regional pride (other examples include givens like Virginia and Savannah, but even extended to Missouri, Indiana, to names like Oregon, Texas, and Arkansas).

Boston was revived as a name in the early 21st century, a time when place-names were trendy as first names, and also when names ending in “uhn” were popular.

Pronunciation: boss-ton.

Famous Bearers:
Places:
Boston
Massachusetts.
Boston
Lincolnshire.

Popularity:
Percentage from the 1990 U.S. Census:
less than 0.004 % of males forenamed Boston

less than 0.006 % surnamed Boston

Popularity of Boston:
Popularity (for newborns):
In the United States...
1850: 566th most popular.
1875: 728th most popular.
1880: 908th most popular.
1881-1883: N/A
1884: 972nd most popular.
1885: N/A
1886: 958th most popular.
1887-1890: N/A
1891: 767th most popular.
1892-1900: N/A
1901: 943rd most popular.
1902-2003: N/A
2004: 901st most popular.

Selected Sources:
Wikipedia “Boston, Linconshire” - (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston%2C_Lincolnshire)

The Social Security Administration Actuarial Note 139 (www.ssa.gov) - For popularity stats 1880-Present
The 1880 U.S. Census- For popularity stats 1850-1880, and other information (it is available on-line at www.familysearch.org)