The Bellows surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 3,601 people carried this name — #9,080 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 82,000 people counted. About the same as in 2000 (3,610).

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What the name means

The meaning of the Bellows surname

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a local name, from where the family lived: ‘at the Bell-house’.

An early record he cites: Ricardus de Belhus, Suffolk, 1273 — Hundred Rolls.

His entry covers Bellhouse and Bellows.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 93 · public domain.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

50 families named Bellows, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 331 people lived in those households, 6.6 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 6 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

Massachusetts 16
New Hampshire 8
Connecticut 7
Vermont 5
New York 5
Pennsylvania 4
Rhode Island 3
Maryland 1
North Carolina 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 229 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Bellows in American newspapers,
1919–1921.

Newspaper page from Daily Kennebec Journal carrying the name Bellows
Daily Kennebec Journal 1921-01-26
Newspaper page from The Sun carrying the name Bellows
The Sun 1919-04-06
Newspaper page from The Sun And The New York Herald carrying the name Bellows
The Sun And The New York Herald 1920-02-15

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 2,332 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Bellows in Australian newspapers,
1850s–1990s.

730 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Bellows. The most, 188, date from the 1860s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in Victoria, at 1.9 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Victoria 380
New South Wales 141
South Australia 66
Queensland 64
Western Australia 38
Tasmania 28
ACT (Canberra) 5

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Bellows.

Who carried it

People named Bellows,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Henry Whitney Bellows
    Henry Whitney Bellows 1814–1882 · writer
  • Albert Fitch Bellows
    Albert Fitch Bellows 1829–1883 · painter
  • Charles FitzRoy Bellows
    Charles FitzRoy Bellows 1832–1907 · academic administrator
  • George Bellows
    George Bellows 1882–1925 · teacher
  • Emma S. Bellows
    Emma S. Bellows 1884–1959 · art model
  • Mary Frances Bellows Schweinfurth 1860–1936 · botanical collector

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Bellows,
in the records of 3 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States494 records

494 records of the Bellows name in the United States
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 188
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 134
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 67
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 56
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 25
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 20
  • Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 2
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 1
  • Sacramento County historic burials 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Edgar W. Bellows

    Born 1908 in Nebraska. Enlisted 1942 at Phoenix, Arizona; bookkeeper. U.S. Army Air Forces veteran of World War II; died 1973, buried at Prescott National Cemetery, Arizona.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Allice Bellows

    Arrived at New York in 1847 aboard the Chaos from Liverpool, aged 20; servant. From Great Britain.

    U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain)
  3. A U.S. Army record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864
    Example: U.S. burial record, 1864
    Burial record Gary L. Bellows

    U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War. Born 1947, died 1994; buried at Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Fernley, Nevada.

    U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)

Showing 3 of 494 records for Bellows in the United States.

Counts: NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain).

Australia14 records

14 records of the Bellows name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 8
  • Tasmanian Names Index 5
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 1
  1. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Daniel Bellows

    Arrived in Queensland in 1886 aboard the Duke of Westminster, aged 24.

    Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0)
  2. The first page of an emigration file from Gündlingen, Baden, 1883
    Example: German emigration file, 1883
    Emigration record Edward Bellows

    Left Launceston in 1854 aboard the Governor General, bound for Sydney, as crew.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record John Bellows

    Died 1866 in Tasman, Tasmania, aged 85.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 14 records for Bellows in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Emigration file, Gündlingen, 1883, Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, Staatsarchiv Freiburg B 694/1 Nr. 1389 (CC BY 4.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Canada8 records

8 records of the Bellows name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 4
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 3
  • City of Winnipeg cemetery records 1
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Thomas Bellows

    Died 1940; buried at Brookside Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

    City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg.
  2. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record Stewart Bellows

    Died in service in 1917.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.
  3. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record John Bellows

    Married 1796 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.

Showing 3 of 8 records for Bellows in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Bellows.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Bellows is.
A volume says what happened to it.

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