Bowie

Bowie: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“yellow-haired”
Origin
Scottish Gaelic
Say it
BOH-ee · 2 syllables
Used for
Both (36% girls, 64% boys since 1880)

Usually from a Scottish surname derived from Gaelic buidhe, meaning 'yellow' or 'fair-haired.' It is best known as a surname and as the stage surname of David Bowie.

How popular is Bowie?

202480.0 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Bowie in 2024265

2024 rank#1,208 boys

Peak year2021

Total US babies since 18803,238

Bowie is rising: use over the last five years is 5.6× what it was a decade earlier.

Names like Bowie

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Finleyfair-haired hero · Scottish Gaelic
  • Lennoxelm grove · Scottish Gaelic
  • Blairplain; field · Scottish Gaelic
  • Lesliegarden of holly · Scottish Gaelic
  • Monroemouth of the Roe River · Scottish Gaelic
  • Campbellcrooked mouth · Scottish Gaelic
  • Finnleyfair-haired hero · Scottish Gaelic
  • Mckinleyson of Fionnlaoch · Scottish Gaelic

Bowie questions

What does the name Bowie mean?

Bowie means "yellow-haired". It comes from Scottish Gaelic. Usually from a Scottish surname derived from Gaelic buidhe, meaning 'yellow' or 'fair-haired.' It is best known as a surname and as the stage surname of David Bowie.

Is Bowie a boy or girl name?

Bowie is used for both: about 36% of US babies named Bowie since 1880 were girls.

How popular is Bowie?

265 US babies were named Bowie in 2024. Its peak year was 2021.

How do you pronounce Bowie?

Bowie is usually pronounced BOH-ee.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.