The Boylan surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 6,280 people carried this name — #5,533 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 46,900 people counted. About the same as in 2000 (6,306).

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What the name means

The meaning of the Boylan surname

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Baoighealláin (“descendant of Baoigheallán”), a diminutive of Baoigheall, a personal name composed of the elements baoth (“vain, foolish”) + geall (“pledge, token”).

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Boylan» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a local name, from where the family lived: ‘of Boyland’.

An early record he cites: Robert de Boylond, Devon, 1273 — Hundred Rolls.

His entry covers Boyland and Boylan.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 125 · public domain.

In Ireland’s birth registers, 1890

Ireland registered 49 births for the Boylan name in 1890.

They were registered in all four provinces, most of all in Leinster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 2,200 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. The Registrar-General’s note on the name: “Dublin, Monaghan, Cavan, and Meath.”

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

Where they were born, 1890

Leinster 22
Ulster 16
Connacht 7
Munster 4

Registrar-General for Ireland, «Special Report on Surnames in Ireland» (R. E. Matheson, 1894), births index of 1890 — public domain.

In Scotland’s registers today

Boylan was recorded 10 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 1929th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 14. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.

National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

In print

Boylan in American newspapers,
1898–1908.

Newspaper page from Foster's Daily Democrat carrying the name Boylan
Foster's Daily Democrat 1898-07-26
Newspaper page from The Mitchell Capital carrying the name Boylan
The Mitchell Capital 1908-10-09

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 22,244 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Boylan in Australian newspapers,
1830s–2000s.

6,803 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Boylan. The most, 1,785, date from the 1930s. Queensland 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 Western Australia, at 2.7 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Queensland 1,834
Western Australia 1,658
New South Wales 1,587
South Australia 1,021
Victoria 616
Tasmania 54
ACT (Canberra) 16
Northern Territory 1

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

Who carried it

People named Boylan,
with a public archive behind them.

  • John J. Boylan
    John J. Boylan 1878–1938 · lawyer
  • Thomas Boylan d. 1720
  • Charlotte Mary Thunder d. 1915
  • Nicholas Boylan 1797–1852
  • Thomas Boylan 1808–1872
  • Andrew Boylan 1842–1910 · Catholic priest

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 Boylan,
in the records of 4 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 States2,801 records

2,801 records of the Boylan name in the United States
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 1,231
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 604
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 279
  • Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 252
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 177
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 132
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 115
  • Sacramento County historic burials 8
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 2
  • New York State police and firefighter memorial rolls 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Charles O. Boylan

    Born 1909 in Washington. Enlisted 1942 at Fort Lewis; office machine operator. U.S. Army Air Forces veteran of World War II; died 1969, buried at Willamette National Cemetery, Oregon.

    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 Minnie Boylan

    Arrived at New York in 1892 aboard the Teutonic from Liverpool, aged 24; servant. From Belfast, Ireland; 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 Hugh Joseph Boylan

    Born 1930; from Dickinson County, Michigan. U.S. Army, heavy weapons infantryman; declared dead 1950 in North Korea.

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

Showing 3 of 2,801 records for Boylan 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) · U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · New York State, Open NY (police and firefighter memorial rolls). 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).

Australia227 records

227 records of the Boylan name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 114
  • NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 40
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 32
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 19
  • Tasmanian Names Index 16
  • State Library of Western Australia indexes 5
  • Canberra cemetery and marriage records 1
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Mary Boylan

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Waverley, sailing from London Dublin in 1847. Native of Dublin, Dublin. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1849.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Cathr Boylan

    Arrived in Victoria in 1856 aboard the Atalanta, aged 30; Irish.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record John J. Boylan

    Law clerk of New South Wales; died 1955.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 227 records for Boylan in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).

Canada120 records

120 records of the Boylan name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 108
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 5
  • Ontario immigration records, 1865–1883 4
  • City of Niagara Falls (Ontario) cemetery records 2
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 1
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Vincent Boylan

    Died 1953 in Cole Harbour, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  2. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record William T. Boylan

    Buried in 1982 at Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, British Columbia.

    City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver.
  3. 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 James Hinds Boylan

    Died in service in 1918.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.

Showing 3 of 120 records for Boylan in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); 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).

United Kingdom2 records

2 records of the Boylan name in the United Kingdom War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record J. F. Boylan

    Royal Horse Artillery. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)
  2. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record J. Boylan

    Owing's (Liverpool Regiment). Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Boylan.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Boylan 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.

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