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

Kow, 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 Kow surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kow in America

Kow is the 87663rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kow surname appeared 212 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Kow.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kow 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 Kow

The surname Kow originates from Germany, where it can be traced back to the 16th century. The name is likely derived from the Old German word "kuh," which means "cow." This suggests that the earliest bearers of this name may have been individuals who worked with cows, such as farmers or cattle herders.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kow can be found in the town records of Heidelberg, dated 1572, where a certain Hans Kow is mentioned as a landowner. In the 17th century, the name appears in various church registers across the southern regions of Germany, particularly in the areas around Stuttgart and Ulm.

The Kow surname is not listed in the renowned Domesday Book, which suggests that it may not have been present in England during the 11th century. However, there are records of individuals with the name Kow immigrating to America in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, likely fleeing religious persecution or seeking better economic opportunities.

One notable bearer of the Kow surname was Johann Kow (1743-1819), a German philosopher and theologian who made significant contributions to the study of ethics and moral philosophy. Another individual of note was Friedrich Kow (1867-1942), a renowned German architect who designed several iconic buildings in Berlin during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

In the United States, one of the earliest recorded individuals with the Kow surname was William Kow (1789-1862), a farmer from Pennsylvania who served in the War of 1812. Later, in the 19th century, a certain Elizabeth Kow (1832-1911) gained recognition as a prominent educator and advocate for women's rights in the state of New York.

Other notable figures with the Kow surname include Hans Kow (1901-1978), a German-born artist who immigrated to Australia and became known for his landscape paintings depicting the Australian outback, and Gertrude Kow (1915-2003), a pioneering German neuroscientist whose research on brain plasticity and neural pathways contributed significantly to our understanding of the human brain.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kow

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

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

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

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