The Borst surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 4,048 people carried this name — #8,198 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 73,000 people counted. That is up 8% from 3,741 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Borst surname

From borst (“chest, thorax”).

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entries «Borst» (Dutch) and «borst» (Dutch), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

In France’s civil register

France’s register of deaths holds 42 people named Borst.

18 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 9 départements, most often Nord.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they were born

Born outside France 18
Nord 9
Paris 6
Indre-et-Loire 3
Meurthe-et-Moselle 1
Nièvre 1
Gironde 1
Haut-Rhin 1
Vienne 1

Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.

In Switzerland’s population statistics

20 people named Borst live in Switzerland.

They live in 4 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Zurich 7
St. Gallen 5
Basel-Landschaft 4
Thurgau 4

Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.

In the Nordic population registers

47 people named Borst is counted in Sweden.

Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.

Counted, by country

Sweden (2022) 47

Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).

In print

Borst in American newspapers,
1910–1911.

Newspaper page from The Whitefish Pilot carrying the name Borst
The Whitefish Pilot 1911-11-02
Newspaper page from The River Press carrying the name Borst
The River Press 1911-11-01
Newspaper page from Rock Island Argus carrying the name Borst
Rock Island Argus 1910-10-07

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 18,259 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Borst in Australian newspapers,
1860s–1980s.

231 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Borst. The most, 159, date from the 1920s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Queensland, at 1.5 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 105
Queensland 69
Victoria 19
South Australia 17
Tasmania 10
Western Australia 6
ACT (Canberra) 3

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

Who carried it

People named Borst,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Sara Cone Bryant
    Sara Cone Bryant 1873–1956 · writer
  • Hugo Borst
    Hugo Borst 1881–1967 · merchant
  • Bernhard Borst
    Bernhard Borst 1883–1963 · architect
  • Everina Borst
    Everina Borst 1888–1943 · radio personality
  • Cor Borst
    Cor Borst 1891–1974 · politician
  • Johann Nepomuk Borst 1780–1819 · jurist

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 Borst,
in the records of 5 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 States850 records

850 records of the Borst name in the United States
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 351
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 192
  • Other U.S. records 307
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Lewis J. Borst

    Born 1922 in New York. Enlisted 1942 at New York City; construction laborer from Nassau County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1983, buried at Long Island National Cemetery, New York.

    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 Amalie Borst

    Arrived at New York in 1863 aboard the America from Bremen, aged 18; farmer. From Geistingen, Germany; bound for New York.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)
  3. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Leroy J. Borst

    Born 1945; from Chicago, Illinois. U.S. Army, armor crewman; killed in action 1967 in Long An, South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)

Showing 3 of 850 records for Borst in the United States.

Counts: NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). 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); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain).

Netherlands10,922 records

10,922 records of the Borst name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 6,450
  • Dutch population registers 3,451
  • Dutch church registers before 1811 1,021
  1. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Alida Borst

    Married in 1889 in Amsterdam; housekeeper. Died 1925 in Hilversum, aged 77.

    Open Archives, Noord-Hollands Archief (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Jacobus Borst

    Married in 1920 in Obdam; farmer. Died 1967 in Hoorn.

    Open Archives, Noord-Hollands Archief (CC BY 4.0); Open Archives, Westfries Archief (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Wouter Borst

    Married in 1909 in Apeldoorn; merchant. Died 1963 in Nijmegen, aged 84.

    Open Archives, Gelders Archief (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 10,922 records for Borst in the Netherlands.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

Germany243 records

243 records of the Borst name in Germany
  • Germany's First World War casualty lists, 1914–1919 237
  • German applications to settle and marry 5
  • German emigration and citizenship files 1
  1. A page of the German First World War casualty lists, 18 April 1918
    Example: German casualty list, 1918
    Casualty list Ferdinand Borst

    Born 1884; from Groß Rinderfeld, Tauberbischofsheim. Reported wounded in the Prussian casualty list of 2 January 1917.

    Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0)
  2. The first page of an emigration file from Gündlingen, Baden, 1883
    Example: German emigration file, 1883
    Emigration record Eva Borst

    Emigrated to North America in 1860.

    Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek / Staatsarchiv Würzburg (CC0)
  3. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Elisabetha Borst

    Named in an application to settle and marry at Nordheim in 1853.

    Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek / Staatsarchiv Würzburg (CC0)

Showing 3 of 243 records for Borst in Germany.

Counts: Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0) · Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Deutsche Verlustlisten, Prussian list 1116, 18 April 1918 (scan via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0); Emigration file, Gündlingen, 1883, Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, Staatsarchiv Freiburg B 694/1 Nr. 1389 (CC BY 4.0); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

Belgium21 records

21 records of the Borst name in Belgium Belgian civil registers (births, marriages, deaths)
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Hortensia Borst

    Died 1915 in Gent.

    Open Archives, Archief Gent (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Mathilda Borst

    Died 1870 in Kortijk.

    Open Archives, Stadsarchief Kortrijk (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Agnes Borst

    Died 1929 in Gent.

    Open Archives, Archief Gent (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 21 records for Borst in Belgium.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

France19 records

19 records of the Borst name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Germaine Appoline Mathilde Borst

    Born 1899 in Paris; died 1975 in Castelmoron-sur-Lot (Lot-et-Garonne).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  2. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Erik Paul Maria Borst

    Born 1959 in the Netherlands; died 2000 in Le Fousseret (Haute-Garonne).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  3. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Jean Paul Borst

    Born 1923 in Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle); died 1975 in Férolles-Attilly (Seine-et-Marne).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 3 of 19 records for Borst in France.

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Borst.

When the index is not enough

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

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

See the Borst volume
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