Recorded as Bolas, Bullas, Bullis, Bullus, Bullowes, Bullesse, and probably others, this is an English surname. It is medieval, occupational and sometimes residential, and describes a person who lived by or worked at a 'bull house.' This presumably was a specially built strong house, to retain the bulls, or it may simply have been a place where the bulls were kept separate from the cows. Either way it is a very early surname with John de la Bulehuse apearing in the Patent Rolls for the county of Hampshire in the year 1224. Other early recordings showing the surname development include Henry de Bolus in the Subsidy Tax register of Derbyshire in 1327, Thomas Bulluse and John Boulose who appear in the manorial records for what was later to become the city of Sheffield, in the year 1478, and John Bullus in the same manorial records, and even possibly the same person, but in 1502. Over the centuries, given the lack of education and the strong local dialects, surnames have continued to develop, even into the 21st century.