Bolger Family History

This name, with variant spellings Boulger, Boulsher, Bolgar, Bolger and Bulger, derives from the Old French "boulge", meaning a leather bag or wallet, plus the agent suffix "-ier" (one who does or works with something), and was originally given as an occupational name to a leather worker. Job-descriptive surnames originally denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and later became hereditary. The surname from this source is first recorded at the beginning of the 14th Century (see below). Recordings from London Church Registers include: the christening of William Bolger, an infant, on April 22nd 1593, at St.