Boule

Attested across 22 languages in the etymology graph.

Boule is one spelling over 2 language communities, and the dictionaries record it differently in 2 of them. Each row is what a source recorded for that language, beside the share of this name’s records the language holds. No single row is the name’s meaning.

• English47%

  One of the bowls used in the French game of boules.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

  ancient Athenian council

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

  v. BOWL

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• French46%

  ball, globe

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

The share is ours — how much of this name’s records each language holds. The sense beside it is the source’s, quoted and credited, including where it names a gender. We do not publish a gender of our own per language: our records carry one figure for the spelling as a whole.

Boule is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish surname3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Chile, Portugal, Canada

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Boulé

• a separate name2 spellings in the group

  Also written Boulé

• Hindi surname3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, India, Canada

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu

  Also written Boulé

• Arabic surname3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Algeria, Egypt

  Also written Boulé, Böüle

36 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Boule is also recorded in 2 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Romanian, vocative singular of bou

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Czech, bulge, protuberance

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

• Josep Bouleb. 1822ESSpanish businessperson
• Marcellin Bouleb. 1861FRFrench paleontologist, paleoanthropologist and geologist (1861–1942)
• Ornella Bouléactress
• Alain BouleFrench politician

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

What does the name Boule mean, and where does it come from?

One of the bowls used in the French game of boules. Recorded by kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations).

How do you pronounce Boule?

A machine transcription gives /ˈbuɫ/ (IPA) for English.

In which country does Boule have the most bearers?

In the United States, the national register counted about 482 people named Boule, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled boule.

Where is Boule most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Boule is densest in Switzerland — about 1 in 382 thousand people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.

How common is the name Boule?

In the United States, the national register counted 482 people named Boule in 2010, about 1 in 690 thousand residents.