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Bowie

BOW-ee; BOE-ee; BOO-ee
Scottish
"blond, yellow"
Clare Green
By Clare Green
Updated Tue Sep 30 2025

Bowie Origin and Meaning

The name Bowie is a boy's name of Scottish origin meaning "blond, yellow".

Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn put this name in play as a first name, but David Bowie (born with the considerably less marketable moniker of David Robert Jones) gave it charisma. He changed his surname in 1965 to avoid confusion with the then popular Davy Jones of The Monkees, borrowing it from the American hero of Alamo, Jim Bowie.

An obscure choice until the 2010s, Bowie really took off in 2016 after the star's death, when admirers began to see it as a viable namesake - or, as a usable alternative to Bodhi, Brody and co. Given to around 200 boys and 120 girls each year, Bowie sits just outside the US Top 1000.

Deriving from the Scottish Gaelic word buidhe, meaning yellow, or blond, Bowie is Top 300 choice in the Netherlands and sits just within the Top 500 in the UK. It is also now at Number 457 on Nameberry, and actor Jackson Rathbone used it for his daughter.

Successfully combining Gaelic charm, a Western drawl, and musical cred, it's understandable that parents are choosing Bowie. The only problem? It can be said three different ways.

# 950 in the US

Bowie Rank in US Top 1000

# 593 on Nameberry

Bowie Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Popularity of the name Bowie

20 Names Similar to Bowie

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Bowie.

Famous People Named Bowie

  • Bowie Kent Kuhn
    5th Commissioner of Major League Baseball
  • Bowie William "Bo" Horvat
    Canadian ice hockey player
  • Bowie Lam (Bǎoyí)
    Hong Kong actor
  • Bowie Wu (Fung)
    Hong Kong actor
  • Bowie Wong
    Hong Kong,Australian fashion designer
  • Suliasi "Bowie" Tupou
    Australian boxer
  • John Fox "Bowie Knife" Potter
    U.S. Congressman from Wisconsin
  • Bowie Grey Wolfenden (b. 2015)
    son of actors Matthew Wolfenden and Charley Webb
  • Bowie Ezio Perego
    Saldana (b. 2015), son of actress Zoe Saldana and artist Marco Perego; twin brother Cy Aridio
  • Bowie Taylan Donald (b. 2016)
    son of singer Howard Donald of Take That
  • Bowie Thompson (b. 2016)
    son of actor Jason Thompson
  • Apollo Bowie Flynn Rossdale (b. 2014)
    son of singers Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale
  • Max Bowie Band (b. 2016)
    son of singer Alex Band of The Calling
  • David Bowie
    English singer,songwriter
  • Jim Bowie
    American pioneer (pronounced boo,wie) who invented the Bowie knife

The name Bowie in Pop Culture

  • Bowie Grant
    character in animated series "Robotech"
  • Bowie
    character in Michael Grant's "Gone" series
  • Bowie Quinn
    character on Disney Channel's "Andi Mack"
  • Bowie
    Maryland
  • Bowie
    Texas
  • pronounced boo
    wie in Maryland and Texas

The name Bowie in Nameberry Blog Posts