Boss
A surname with at least two possible roots: either a place-based name or an old personal-name nickname form.
The #4,154 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 36,200 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Boss is not straightforwardly explained from the historical sources. One line of evidence treats it as a local surname, perhaps from a place name or from a form like De Boss, while other surname dictionaries connect Boss with short personal-name forms such as Bos or Bosa. In Germanic languages, a related word can also mean the boss or raised center of a shield, but that sense is only indirectly relevant here and may not be the surname’s source.
History
Lower’s 19th-century dictionary calls Boss probably local, which fits the way many short surnames arose from place-names or residence. Later surname collections also record Boss alongside continental forms such as French Bosse and German/Dutch Boss/Bos, suggesting that the name may have multiple independent origins in different regions. In Ireland, the name appears in small numbers in 19th-century census-style surname lists, but the sources here do not support a single clear Irish origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same root word boss can also mean the raised center of a shield in older Germanic usage, which is why it shows up in some etymological discussions even when it is not the surname’s direct source.
From the historical record
“BOSLEY. A parish in Cheshire. BOSS Probably local. De Boss. li.R. CO. Norfolk. BOSTOCK. A township in co. Chester. BOSTON. A town in co. Lincoln, and a hamlet in co. York. BOSVILLE. In the H.R. De Bosevil. Bosville is a village of 1400 inhabitants, near Yvetot in Normandy. The family”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom