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

Lowrie, 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 Lowrie surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Lowrie in America

Lowrie is the 12485th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Lowrie surname appeared 2,485 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 Lowrie.

We can also compare 2010 data for Lowrie 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 Lowrie

The surname Lowrie has its origins in Scotland. It is a locational name derived from the lands of Lowrie, located in the Scottish Borders region. The earliest recorded spelling of the name is Lauerye, found in the records of Ayrshire in 1305.

The name is thought to be derived from the Old English words "hlaw" meaning a hill or mound, and "ric" meaning a domain or territory. This suggests that the original bearers of the name likely lived in or near a hilly area or settlement.

One of the earliest known references to the name is found in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, a record of Scottish nobles and landowners who swore allegiance to King Edward I of England. Listed among them is a Walter de Lowry, believed to be from the Lowrie lands in the Borders region.

In the 15th century, the name appears in various records from the Scottish Exchequer Rolls and other legal documents. Notable examples include John Lowry, a landowner from Lanarkshire in 1436, and William Lowry, a merchant from Edinburgh in 1489.

Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals bearing the Lowrie surname. One of the earliest was Sir Robert Lowrie (1508-1576), a Scottish knight and landowner who served as a courtier under King James V of Scotland.

Another prominent figure was Reverend Samuel Lowrie (1779-1868), a Scottish-American Presbyterian minister and missionary who established several churches and schools in India during the 19th century.

In the field of literature, Walter Lowrie (1784-1868) was a Scottish-American author and translator, best known for his translations of the works of Swedish philosopher and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg.

In the realm of science, Walter Merry Lowrie (1819-1900) was a Scottish-American physician and geologist who made significant contributions to the understanding of the geology of Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Lastly, John Cameron Lowrie (1824-1900) was a Scottish-American lawyer and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania in the late 19th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Lowrie

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

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

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

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