BOLEN SURNAME ANCESTRY According to the 1920 census there were 932 families with the Bolen surname in the United States. Many more in all years to 2010. During the American Civil War the Bolen name was found in 129 Confederate Records and 190 Union Records. Bolen Name Meaning * Czech: from a pet form of the personal names Boleslav or Bolebor. * Polish (Bolen): from a pet form of the personal name Boleslaw. * Variant spelling of German Bohlen. * Swedish (Bolén): ornamental name composed of an unexplained first element + the common surname suffix -én, * a derivative of Latin -enius ‘descendant of’.English: variant of Bullen. Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press