Find out how popular the last name Dowden is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Dowden.

Dowden, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Dowden surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Dowden in America

Dowden is the 8598th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Dowden surname appeared 3,829 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Dowden.

We can also compare 2010 data for Dowden to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Dowden

The surname Dowden is of English origin, derived from the Old English words "dun" meaning hill, and "denu" meaning valley. It is a locational name, suggesting that the earliest bearers of this name lived near a hill or valley.

The name first appeared in records during the 12th century, with one of the earliest known references being found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire, dated 1190, where a person named Richard de Dunden was mentioned.

Another early record of the name can be found in the Assize Rolls of Staffordshire in 1279, which mentions a Roger de Dowdene.

Dowden is also an old place name, referring to areas in counties such as Derbyshire and Shropshire. The Dowden family held lands in these regions during the Middle Ages.

John Dowden (c. 1640-1711) was an English clergyman and author, known for his work "A Concordance to the Works of Ben Jonson."

Edward Dowden (1843-1913) was an Irish poet, literary critic, and professor of English literature at Trinity College, Dublin.

Samuel Dowden (1820-1881) was an Irish clergyman and author, known for his work on the history of the Church of Ireland.

John Dowden (1782-1857) was an English Anglican bishop, who served as the Bishop of Edinburgh from 1845 to 1857.

Ephraim Dowden (1734-1828) was an English Particular Baptist minister and author, who served as the pastor of the Baptist church in Shrewsbury for over 50 years.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Dowden

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Dowden.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Dowden was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Dowden has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Dowden was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Dowden, please contact us.

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