Boss is a surname of European origin, mainly Germanic.
In English Boss comes from the nickname for a hunchback, or bossu in Old French meaning ‘hunchbacked’ (a derivative of bosse ‘lump’, ‘hump’. From French it can also be compared to Bossard. In German it is from a short form of the personal name Borkhardt, a variant of Burkhart, and possibly a differed spelling of South German Bös. In Danish it is the medieval variant of the surname Buus.
Notable people with the surname include:
Geoffrey Boss (born 1969), American professional racing driver Harley Boss (1908–1964), American baseball player and coach Hugo Boss (1885–1948), German fashion designer Isaac Boss (born 1980), Irish rugby union player Jeff Boss (born 1963), American conspiracy theorist Kevin Boss (born 1984), American football tight end Lewis Boss (1846–1912), American astronomer Marcellus Boss (1901–1967), American politician, 5th Civilian Governor of Guam Medard Boss (1903–1990), Swiss psychoanalytic psychiatrist Terry Boss (born 1981), Puerto Rican association football goalkeeper Stephen "tWitch" Boss (1982–2022), American actor
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