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

Howells, 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 Howells surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Howells in America

Howells is the 10772nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Howells surname appeared 2,961 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 Howells.

We can also compare 2010 data for Howells 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 Howells

The surname Howells is of Welsh origin, deriving from the personal name "Hywel" or "Howell". The name Hywel is an ancient Welsh name meaning "prominent" or "conspicuous". It is believed to have originated in the 9th century or earlier.

The surname Howells is thought to have first emerged in the Welsh counties of Glamorgan, Monmouthshire, and Pembrokeshire. These regions were strongholds of the Welsh language and culture throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era.

In its early forms, the name was rendered as "Howel", "Howell", or "Houel" in various medieval records and documents. One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Houel" in the entry for Gloucestershire.

By the 13th century, the surname Howells had become more widespread across Wales and parts of western England. Notable early bearers of the name include Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd (c.1170-1241), a Welsh prince and military leader, and Hywel Fychan (c.1300-1370), a Welsh landowner and influential figure in medieval Powys.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Howells surname gained prominence in the English counties of Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, and Somerset, likely due to migration from Wales. During this period, the name was sometimes anglicized to "Howles" or "Howles".

Among the notable individuals with the surname Howells throughout history are:

• Sir William Howells (c.1585-1647), a Welsh lawyer and Member of Parliament during the English Civil War.
• William Dean Howells (1837-1920), an American novelist and literary critic, considered a leading figure of the realist movement in American literature.
• Herbert Norman Howells (1892-1983), an English composer and teacher, known for his choral works and chamber music.
• Denton Howells (1916-1998), a Welsh rugby union player who captained the British Lions on their 1950 tour of New Zealand and Australia.
• Betsy Howells (1923-2005), a Welsh novelist and short story writer, whose works often explored themes of Welsh culture and identity.

The surname Howells remains prevalent in Wales, England, and among Welsh diaspora communities around the world. Its origins can be traced back to the ancient Welsh personal name Hywel, reflecting the rich linguistic and cultural heritage of Wales.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Howells

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!