Bøe

Boe Norwegian Bokmål Alternative forms nb Bø alternative surname spelling Etymology nb ine-pro *bʰuH- A habitational surname from the Norwegian farm and place name nb Bø, with a silent final ⟨e⟩ reflecting older Danish orthography, in which a following ⟨e⟩ could indicate that the preceding vowel was long. The underlying place name is from the common noun nb bø farm; enclosed farmland, infield, which derives from nb non bǿr farm, farmstead, from the root of non búa to dwell, reside, from nb gem-pro *būaną to dwell, reside, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root ine-pro *bʰuH- to be, grow. Pronunciation nb /bøː/ [bøː] nb øː 1 nb Bø bø nb Bøe Proper noun nb proper noun nb habitational place names, from one of the many Norwegian farms named nb Bø Usage notes The final ⟨e⟩ in nb Bøe is silent. It reflects an older Danish spelling convention in which a following ⟨e⟩ could indicate that the preceding vowel was long.“Hvorfor er det stum e i mange norske etternavn?”, Language Council of Norway Språkrådet, updated 1 January 2024. The corresponding modern Norwegian farm and place name is normally written nb Bø; the historical spelling nb Bøe has been retained as a surname. Statistics According to Statistics Norway, 4,149 people in Norway bore nb Bøe as a surname in the 2025 surname statistics, compared with 2,457 bearing the spelling nb Bø.“Etternavn”, Statistics Norway, 2025 surname statistics; statistics page updated 28 January 2026. References Veka, Olav (2000), Norsk etternamnleksikon: Norske slektsnamn – utbreiing, tyding og opphav, Oslo: Det Norske Samlaget. “bø”, Store norske leksikon.