Bowden is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is located in Red Deer County on the Queen Elizabeth II Highway, approximately 45 km south of Red Deer. The community may take its name from Bowdon, Greater Manchester, in England. A provincial Alberta Land Surveyor reference relates this alternate name source, "The most widely accepted version says that a surveyor named Williamson suggested that this siding on the Edmonton-Calgary Trail take the maiden name of his wife."