2000
#11,810
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,429
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.90
Rare Last name
Loe
A toponymic surname derived from the Old English word "hlaw," meaning a hill or mound.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,540 Americans carry the last name Loe. That puts it at #13,208 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.74 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 134,943 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Loe surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Loe with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.5K
1 in 134,943
Census rank
#13,208
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,215 bearers of the surname Loe in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.74 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13208th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Loe, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.8%) and Hispanic (6.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Loe
The surname Loe originates from the Old English word "hlo" or the Anglo-Saxon word "hlaw", meaning a hill or mound. This name is believed to have originated in England during the Anglo-Saxon period, dating back to the 5th to 11th centuries.
The name Loe was initially used as a topographic name, referring to people who lived near or on a hill or mound. It is likely that early bearers of this name lived in areas with such geographical features, and the name became a way to identify and distinguish them from others.
Some of the earliest recorded instances of the name Loe can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership and taxation commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears in various spellings, such as "Lowe" and "Loe", indicating that it was already established in different parts of England at that time.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Loe was Robert de la Lowe, who lived in Essex, England, in the 13th century. Another notable bearer of this name was John Lowe, a prominent merchant and alderman in the City of London during the 14th century.
The surname Loe also has connections to place names in England. For instance, the village of Loe in Oxfordshire and the township of Lowe in Derbyshire likely derived their names from the same Old English root word as the surname.
Other notable individuals with the surname Loe throughout history include:
1. Nicholas Lowe (c. 1420 - c. 1492), an English composer and musician during the Renaissance period.
2. Robert Loe (c. 1550 - 1618), an English Catholic priest and martyr who was executed during the reign of King James I.
3. Edward Lowe (1650 - 1718), an English playwright and poet known for his tragedy "The Unhappy Fair Irene" and his poem "The Phoenix".
4. Thomas Lowe (1736 - 1806), an English engraver and portrait painter who worked in London during the 18th century.
5. John Lowe (1805 - 1885), a British architect and civil engineer known for his work on railway infrastructure in the 19th century.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Loe
Among Census respondents with the surname Loe, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.8%) and Hispanic (6.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Loe bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Loe surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.4% · 1,759
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.8% · 172
- Hispanic or Latino6.8% · 151
- Two or more races3.7% · 81
- Black or African American1.6% · 36
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 16
Timeline
Historical Census data for Loe
Loe appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#12,831
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,401
-28 bearers (-1.2%)
Per 100,000 0.81
Rank movement Down 1,021 places
2020
#13,208
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,215
-186 bearers (-7.7%)
Per 100,000 0.74
Rank movement Down 377 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,810 | 2,429 | 0.90 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #12,831 | 2,401 | 0.81 | -28 bearers (-1.2%) | Down 1,021 places |
| 2020 | #13,208 | 2,215 | 0.74 | -186 bearers (-7.7%) | Down 377 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Loe surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #12,831 | #13,208 | -2.9% |
| Count | 2,401 | 2,215 | -7.7% |
| Per 100K | 0.81 | 0.74 | -8.5% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Loe bearers went from 2,401 to 2,215 (-7.7% change). The surname moved down 377 positions in the national ranking, going from #12,831 to #13,208.
FAQ
Loe surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Loe?
Name Census estimates that about 2,540 living Americans carry the surname Loe. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 134,943 residents.
How common is Loe?
Loe ranks #13,208 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.74 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,215 people with the surname Loe. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,540), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.74 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.74 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Loe.
Has Loe become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Loe went from 2,401 recorded bearers to 2,215. That is a decrease of 186 (-7.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #12,831 to #13,208.
What does the Census say about the background of Loe?
Among Census respondents with the surname Loe, the largest self-reported group is White at 79.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.8%) and Hispanic (6.8%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Loe in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.4% (1,759 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Loe appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (79.4%), Asian/Pacific Islander (7.8%), Hispanic (6.8%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Loe (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Loe mean?
A toponymic surname derived from the Old English word "hlaw," meaning a hill or mound. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Loe (0.74 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Loe?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.