The Meaning Of The Boldewahn Name

What’s in a name? Those odd immigrant names really took a beating in the US. Our German great-grand-father’s name was “Boldewahn” But it was spelled:

Baldewan
Boldwahl
Boldean
Boltewahn

My favorites are:
Oldewahn
Bolderwack
and Baltimore

To be fair, the name was often spelled in the German church books as Bolduan. The Nagel family think that these spelling variations are due to how cursive writing was taught in Germany before the 1940s. The script was stylized and ornate and is hard for many of us today to read. It was called the “Sütterlin Schreibschrift”. After WW2 the modern “Latin” script was taught that most of us are familiar with here in the USA.

Baltimore, 1884 Oshkosh City Directory)

William Bolderwack 1920 — Bolderwhack (1920 Oshkosh Rural Address Book)

Boltewsku 1930 Census — Boltewahn or Boltewsku (1930 US Census)

Bolduan (German Church Register 1851, Gruenwald, Kreis Neustettin, Pommern)

So what is the origin of the name?

In this 1903 book about the origins of German and Jewish names you can find the family name listed under the “Bold” entry

Gotish (East Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths): balths

Old High German ( 700 to 1050 AD): pald, bald

Middle High German ( 1050 and 1350 AD): balt or kühn (audacious)

The origin of the Italian word: baldo

Variations

Baldevin – Old High German variant of Baldewin (“Bald” and “Vin”)

Vin means “friend”

Ancient Germanic *-winiz = ‘friend’

Old Norse – vinr = ‘friend’

Swedish – vän = ‘friend’
Danish – ven = ‘friend’

Old High German – wini = ‘friend’
Old English – wine = ‘friend’ or wini = ‘friend’

A Barbara Baldavin played a recurring role on Star Trek

Baldewein

Bollwin

Bollwien

Pollwien

Bullwein

Baldawan

Bollwahn

Bolduan

Boldewan (17th Century)

CONCLUSION: Boldewahn means “Bold” “Friend”

PS.

The best way to search for the name is to use “wildcard” symbols

Ex: B*ld*w**n

Will capture:

Boldwan

Baldwahn

Boldiwan

Boldiwahn

Bulduwahn

Boldewahnen

Bullwohn

Bolwann

Bulwann