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

Howey, 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 Howey surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Howey in America

Howey is the 12500th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Howey surname appeared 2,480 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 Howey.

We can also compare 2010 data for Howey 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 Howey

The surname Howey has its origins in the British Isles, likely originating in Scotland or Northern England during the medieval period. It is believed to be derived from the Old English word "hoh," meaning a heel or ridge, and may have referred to someone who lived near a prominent hill or ridge.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Howey can be found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, a record of Scottish landowners who swore fealty to King Edward I of England. This suggests that the surname was already well-established in Scotland by the late 13th century.

In the 16th century, the Howey surname appears in various records in the Scottish Lowlands, particularly in the counties of Ayrshire and Renfrewshire. It is possible that the name was associated with the settlement of Howwood, a village located in Renfrewshire, which may have been named after a prominent local landmark.

Notable individuals with the surname Howey include James Howey (1847-1938), a Scottish-born Australian politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in the late 19th century. Another prominent figure was Sir James Howey (1848-1925), a Scottish-born architect and civil engineer who worked extensively in South Africa and was knighted for his contributions to the country's infrastructure.

In the United States, one of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Howey is that of Robert Howey (1748-1820), an Irish-born settler who fought in the American Revolutionary War and later became a prominent landowner in Pennsylvania.

Another notable American with the surname Howey was Frank Howey (1885-1964), a journalist and publisher from Ohio who founded the renowned Howey Political Report, a respected publication that covered political affairs in the United States for several decades.

Throughout history, the Howey surname has been subject to various spellings, including Howie, Howye, and Houghy, reflecting the regional variations and phonetic adaptations that often occurred with surnames in the past.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Howey

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

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

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Howey, 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!