BOI (Born On the Island) & IBC (Islander By Choice)

Galveston has two distinctions for the people (non-tourists) who live there: “BOI” (Born On the Island) and “IBC” (Islander By Choice). “BOI” is cited in print from at least 1956; “IBC” is cited in print from 1975.
 
The city of Nacogdoches has a similar term for natives: “BIN (Born In Nacogdoches).”
 
     
Wikipedia: Galveston, Texas
Galveston (pronounced /ˈgælvəstən/) is a city and the seat of Galveston County located along the Gulf Coast region in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. As of the 2005 U.S. Census estimate, the city had a total population of 57,466. Galveston is accessible by a causeway linking Galveston Island to the mainland on the north end of the city, a toll bridge on the western end of the island, and by ferry boat service on the east end of the city.
 
Galveston is known for its historic neighborhoods and a ten-mile (16 km) long, 17 foot high seawall designed to protect the city from floods and hurricane storm surge.
 
The city houses many tourist attractions. The attractions include the Galveston Schlitterbahn waterpark, Moody Gardens, the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig & Museum, the Lone Star Flight Museum, a downtown neighborhood of historic buildings known as “The Strand,” many historical museums and mansions, and miles of beach front. The Strand plays host to a yearly Mardi Gras festival, Galveston Island Jazz & Blues Festival, Texas Beach Fest, Lone Star Bike Rally, and a Victorian-themed Christmas festival called “Dickens on the Strand” (honoring the works of novelist Charles Dickens, especially A Christmas Carol) in early December. Galveston is also home to the Balinese Room, a historic nightclub, formerly a notorious illegal gambling hall, located on a 600-foot (200 m) pier extending into the Gulf of Mexico.
 
Galveston is the second-largest city in Galveston County in population after League City; League City surpassed Galveston between 2000 and 2005.
 
Urban Dictionary
BOI
An acronym/term used primarily in tourist plagued islands like Hawaii, Galveston, Jamaica, etc., signifying that an individual is a local and born on the island (BOI).
Hey brah, I was BOI and proud of it so get de fock off my island, mon.
by Roland819 Dec 7, 2006
 
Galveston Chamber of Commerce
Ben G. Raimer, M.D. – Chairman of the Board
(...)
He and his wife Sharon have three children, all of whom are BOI and graduates of Ball High School.
(...)
Tino Gonzalez
Florentino (Tino) F. Gonzalez is a BOI, born in Galveston and is employed at The University of Texas Medical Branch, Department of Human Resources / Employee Relations as an HR Consultant.
(...)
Sean O’Donohoe
Sean O’Donohoe is a third generation BOI.  He was born and raised on the island and was educated in the local private Catholic school system.
   
28 June 1956, Galveston (TX) Daily News, pg. 5, col. 3:
Davis is a BOI (born on the island) but he grew up and was educated in the East. 
 
1 July 1962, Galveston (TX) Daily News, pg. 4A, col. 4:
Miss Hertz is the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Max Herz and proudly calls herself a member of the BOI (Born on Island) Club.
 
10 February 1970, Galveston (TX) Daily News, pg. 5, col. 1:
Kellner is proud of being a BOI (born on the island) and he has great optimism for the future of Galveston.
   
20 July 1975, Galveston (TX) Daily News, pg. B1, col. 6:
He calls Chicago his “home town” but says Galveston is growing on him and he just might become a permanent IBC—Islander By Choice.
 
24 October 1976, Galveston (TX) Daily News, pg. 1, cols. 2-5 headline:
Islander By Choice Latane Temple
Works For City’s Revitalization
   
28 May 1978, Galveston (TX) Daily News, pg. 15C, col. 4:
A native of Houston and a graduate of Houston Baptist University, she is now an islander by choice.
 
New York (NY) Times
GALVESTON PONDERS CASINOS AS REMEDY FOR SLUMP
By ROBERT REINHOLD, SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: January 5, 1987
’‘It was heaven on earth,’’ recalls Edward Andrews, a retired Houston business executive. ‘‘It had glamour, beautiful women, air-conditioned game rooms, something for everyone.’’ There Were Shootouts Then
 
And if there were occasional shootouts in which the Maceos might have disposed of interlopers, well, Galvestonians could look the other way because they took such good care of the B.O.I.‘s, as native Galvestonians call those Born On Island.
 
New York (NY) Times
‘LACE OVER STEEL’: THE WOMEN MAYORS OF TEXAS
By LISA BELKIN; LISA BELKIN REPORTS FOR THE TIMES FROM HOUSTON.
Published: March 20, 1988
Coggeshall, too, was elected during the boom, and found herself governing during the bust. She had grown up in Rochester, N.Y., gone to Wellesley College and followed her husband’s medical career to Galveston Island. In 1984, Galveston’s problem was not growth, but lack of it, even during the days of record-priced oil. That was seen as the fault of the old guard, the B.O.I.‘s - for ‘‘Born on the Island’’ -whom Coggeshall’s opponent, E. Douglas McLeod, was thought to represent.
 
Google Books
Islands at the Edge of Time: A Journey to America’s Barrier Islands
By Gunnar Hansen
Island Press
1993
Pg. 69:
Still, on a balmy September afternoon such as this, Galveston seemed a town no storm could hurt. The road atop the seawall that had been built after 1900 was jammed with traffic, some cars and trucks sporting bumper stickers that announced “BOI”—Born On the Island—a reminder that even here, where the economy depended on tourists, islanders knew who belonged and who did not.
 
Amazon.com
Born On The Island (Paperback)
by Linda Bingham (Author)
Product Details
Paperback: 285 pages
Publisher: Eakin Press; 1 edition (May 2000)
Language: English
Book Description
Galveston sits on an island just east of Houston, Texas. A favorite tourist spot for decades, natives born on the island refer to each other as BOI. This is the story of one such family. When Faith Kohl Coolidge returns from Europe in 1900, she finds her family decimated and her city in ruins.
 
Christian Science Monitor (July 18, 2003)
Where the winds don’t intimidate
To a Texas island that once lost 6,000 to a storm, Claudette was more pest than peril.
By Kris Axtman | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
GALVESTON, TEX – If locals say a home survived the storm, you can be sure it predates 1900. If they say their families lived through the storm, you’re listening to history a hundred years old.
(...) 
Even now, people here are often quizzed on whether they were born on the island, or “BOI.” Those who were BOI enjoy enormous respect from those who are islanders by choice, or “IBC.” “Being BOI is a big thing here. It carries a lot of prestige,” says Andi Zarro, with the Galveston Visitor’s Bureau. “It’s all part of that tie to the past.”
 
New York (NY) Times
With Faith and Hope, Some Stay Put in Galveston
By SIMON ROMERO
Published: September 23, 2005
(...)
Some were B.O.I.‘s, shorthand in Galveston for those born on the island. Others were I.B.C.‘s, islanders by choice. With one exception, none had any apprehensions about staying. Only Franklin Courtright, 53, a home remodeler and B.O.I., said he might leave by Friday morning.
 
Barnes and Noble
Century of Galveston Weather: 1900-1999 People and the Elements on a Barrier Island
by Stan Blazyk
(REVIEWS)
Get Weather-wise About Galveston’s Weather & Climate History
Hurakan, a sponge of tropical meteorology., 04/27/2008
Mr. Blazyk is known for his thoughtful wisdom concerning matters of climate & weather pertaining to the Island of Galveston. As a hurricane historian, I have seeked him out many times when searching for facts and dates to help research that has ran into a dead-end. This book is a wonderful collection of information that any ‘BOI’ would be proud to own, either way you explain being a ‘BOI’. Most Galveston Islanders know that ‘BOI’ is short for ‘Born On the Island’, while some Mainlanders laugh and proclaim it as meaning, Born Off the Island, lol.
 
Galveston Real Estate
Friday, August 8, 2008
Islander By Choice - “Do more than shop local, wear local.”
August 5, 2008 (“El Mondos”)
An island in every sense of the word, Galveston has survived and re-imagined herself time and again through the passion and ingenuity and sometimes delusion of its residents. Five locals have started a new Galveston label promoting the Island attitude and lifestyle that promises to be more than your typical souvenir: it’s a piece of Galveston’s witty neighbors and quirky history. Together, they formed Islander By Choice (IBC) and have unveiled their first t-shirt for IBCs, BOIs, and visitors alike. Islander By Choice was started by Adrienne and Michael Culpepper, Lauren and Kevin Scott, and Will Wright, who wanted original Galveston t-shirts that capture the character of the Island with style in mind.
 
Capitalizing on a kooky sense of wit and wisdom and some forgotten facts, they want to promote Galveston pride and a truer spirit of the Island. What began as local friends joking in a shop one summer has now launched with their first t-shirt: the IBC definition shirt. And don’t worry - visitors and locals alike, including Born On the Islanders, will want to rock this shirt across the Island.