Bowring is a surname of English origin. At the time of the British Census of 1881, its relative frequency was highest in Dorset (36.5 times the British average), followed by Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire, Hampshire, Surrey, the Channel Islands, Shropshire and Somerset.
The name Bowring may refer to:
- Benjamin Bowring (1778–1846), English-Canadian businessman
- Charles R. Bowring (1840–1890), Newfoundland politician and merchant, grandson of Benjamin Bowring
- Eva Bowring (1892–1985), Nebraska politician
- John Bowring (1792–1872), an English political economist and writer. Governor of Hong Kong from 1854 to 1859. First cousin once removed of Benjamin Bowring
- J. C. Bowring (1820–1893), the eldest son of Sir John Bowring.
- Lewin Bentham Bowring (1824–1910), son of Sir John Bowring
- Edgar Alfred Bowring (1826–1911), British translator and author, son of Sir John Bowring
- William Bowring (cricketer) (1874–1945)
- Kevin Bowring, former rugby union player and coach.
- Kelly Bowring, Catholic Theologian, Author, Professor, Dean.
The name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is an occupational name deriving from the Olde English pre 7th Century "bur" meaning "a chamber", and "ing", in this context, "a friend" or "servant", one who looked after the "bower-chamber" in a lord or chiefs house. Job-descriptive surnames originally denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and later became hereditary. There are many developed spellings, all with essentially the same meaning, although some are common as surnames and these include: Bower, Bur, Bowerman, Borman, Bowra, Boorer, Burra, Bowring and Bowering. The surname was first recorded in the early 14th Century (see below), and other early recordings include: Mayfflin atte Bur (1280, Somerset); Gilbert atte Boure (1296, Sussex); Robert Boreman (1327, Sussex; and Walter Bowryng (1328, Somerset). The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Henry Bouryng, which was dated 1302, in the "Pipe Rolls of Derbyshire", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307.