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

Furlow, 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 Furlow surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Furlow in America

Furlow is the 9966th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Furlow surname appeared 3,237 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 Furlow.

We can also compare 2010 data for Furlow 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 Furlow

The surname Furlow originated in England, likely during the late medieval period, around the 13th or 14th century. It is believed to be a locational surname derived from a place name, possibly a town or village. One theory suggests that the name may have originated from a now-lost or obscure place name containing the Old English elements "furh" or "furlang," meaning a furrow or a furlong, which was a unit of measurement used in agriculture.

Some of the earliest recorded instances of the surname can be found in historical records from the 16th and 17th centuries. For example, the Furlow surname appears in the parish registers of Oxfordshire, England, in the late 1500s. Additionally, there are records of a William Furlow, born in 1612, in the parish of St. Giles, Cripplegate, London.

The Furlow surname has been associated with notable individuals throughout history. One such figure was John Furlow, an English clergyman who lived in the late 17th century and served as the rector of Sutton Valence in Kent. Another notable Furlow was William Furlow, a merchant and landowner who lived in Virginia, USA, in the late 18th century.

In the United States, the Furlow surname can be traced back to the colonial era. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this surname was Robert Furlow, who arrived in Virginia in 1635. Another early Furlow settler was Thomas Furlow, who came to Maryland in 1674.

The Furlow surname has also been found in various historical records, such as the Hearth Tax Rolls of Oxfordshire in the late 17th century and the Poll Tax records of Yorkshire in the 18th century. Some variations in the spelling of the surname, such as Furlo, Furlaw, and Furleigh, have been documented in these records.

Other notable individuals with the Furlow surname include John Furlow, a British soldier who served in the American Revolutionary War, and George Furlow, an American politician who served as a member of the Alabama House of Representatives in the mid-19th century. Additionally, James Furlow, an American artist and painter, gained recognition for his landscape paintings in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Furlow

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

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 Furlow 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 Furlow 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 Furlow was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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