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

Leow, 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 Leow surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Leow in America

Leow is the 68770th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Leow surname appeared 286 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 Leow.

We can also compare 2010 data for Leow 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 Leow

The surname LEOW is believed to have originated in the northern regions of Germany, particularly in the areas around Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein. Its roots can be traced back to the early medieval period, around the 9th or 10th century AD. The name is thought to be derived from the Old German word "leu," which means "lion," possibly indicating a connection to a person's physical appearance, strength, or bravery.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name LEOW can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Lubecensis, a collection of historical documents from the city of Lübeck, dating back to the 13th century. In this document, a man named Johannes Leow is mentioned as a merchant and landowner in the region.

During the 14th century, the name LEOW appears in several records from the Hanseatic League, a powerful commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Northern Europe. Prominent individuals bearing this surname included Heinrick Leow, a respected ship captain and trader based in Rostock, who lived from approximately 1320 to 1385.

In the 16th century, the name LEOW was associated with the Protestant Reformation movement, with several notable figures emerging from this period. One such individual was Martin Leow, a Lutheran theologian and scholar who lived from 1501 to 1569. He was known for his contributions to the translation of the Bible into German and his writings on religious doctrine.

The 17th century saw the rise of a prominent LEOW family in the town of Stralsund, located in what is now northeastern Germany. This family produced several notable figures, including Johann Leow (1625-1701), a respected jurist and legal scholar, and his son, Christian Leow (1665-1732), a renowned physician and botanist.

In the 19th century, the name LEOW gained wider recognition with the emergence of several influential artists and intellectuals. One such figure was Carl Leow (1812-1887), a German painter and professor at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, known for his landscape and historical paintings.

Throughout its history, the surname LEOW has been associated with various place names and variations in spelling, such as Loewe, Löwe, and Löw. However, the core meaning and origins of the name remain rooted in the northern German regions and the symbolism of strength and bravery associated with the lion.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Leow

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

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

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

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