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Booth Family History

Booth Name Meaning

English (northern): topographic or occupational name from Middle English bothe (Old Danish bōth) ‘temporary shelter such as a covered market stall or a cattle-herdsman's hut’. The latter sense was predominant in the Pennines of Lancashire and Yorkshire where there were many cattle farms or vaccaries and whose subdivisions were known as ‘booths’. The principal meaning of the surname there was therefore probably ‘cattle herdsman’ ‘man in charge of a vaccary’ and thus identical with Boothman . Elsewhere it may have denoted a shopkeeper who owned a temporary market stall but no evidence has been found to confirm this use of the surname. In the British Isles the surname is still more common in northern England where Scandinavian influence was more marked and in Scotland where the word was borrowed into Gaelic as both(an).

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022


Similar surnames: North, Boot, Borth, Foote, Worth, Boone, Boock, Boothe, Bolt, Forth

Search for a relative to learn more about your family history.

Hint: Try searching for a relative alive in 1940.

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Where is the Booth family from?

You can see how Booth families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Booth family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Booth families were found in United Kingdom in 1891. In 1891 there were 8,365 Booth families living in Lancashire. This was about 29% of all the recorded Booth's in United Kingdom. Lancashire had the highest population of Booth families in 1891.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Booth surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.

What did your Booth ancestors do for a living?

In 1939, General Labourer and Unpaid Domestic Duties were the top reported jobs for men and women in the United Kingdom named Booth. 7% of Booth men worked as a General Labourer and 65% of Booth women worked as an Unpaid Domestic Duties. Some less common occupations for Americans named Booth were Colliery Hewer and Incapacitated. .

View Census Data for Booth | Data not to scale

*We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

Top Male Occupations In 1939

  • General Labourer
    7%
  • Builders Labourer
    3%
  • Incapacitated
    2%
  • Colliery Hewer
    2%

Top Female Occupations In 1939

  • Unpaid Domestic Duties
    65%
  • Unpaid Domestic
    2%
  • Housewife
    2%
  • Incapacitated
    2%
Black & white image of two construction labourers

What Booth family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 783,000 census records available for the last name Booth. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Booth census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search UK census records for Booth

Passenger Lists

There are 70,000 immigration records available for the last name Booth. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in the UK, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

View all Booth immigration records

Draft Cards

There are 86,000 military records available for the last name Booth. For the veterans among your Booth ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

View all Booth military records

You've only scratched the surface of Booth family history

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What is the average Booth lifespan?

Between 1940 and 2004, in the United States, Booth life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1940, and highest in 2004. The average life expectancy for Booth in 1940 was 40, and 76 in 2004.

View Social Security Death Index (SSDI) for Booth

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