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

Mowry, 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 Mowry surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Mowry in America

Mowry is the 6989th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Mowry surname appeared 4,793 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Mowry.

We can also compare 2010 data for Mowry 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 Mowry

The surname Mowry originated in England, likely in the late medieval period. It is believed to be a locational name derived from a place name, possibly Mowry or Mowery, indicating that the earliest bearers of the name hailed from a town or village with that name.

One possible source of the name is the Old English word "mær," meaning "boundary" or "border," combined with the word "ēg," meaning "island" or "piece of land surrounded by water or marsh." This suggests that the name may have referred to a settlement situated on a boundary or near a waterlogged area.

While the name does not appear in the Domesday Book of 1086, which recorded landowners in England after the Norman Conquest, there are records of individuals with similar spellings, such as Mowery and Mowry, in various historical documents from the 13th century onwards.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Mowry was John Mowry, who was mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1327. Another early bearer of the name was William Mowry, who was recorded in the Lay Subsidy Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1380.

Over the centuries, the Mowry surname has been associated with several notable individuals. One such figure was Richard Mowry (c. 1600-1671), an early settler in Rhode Island who was born in England and arrived in the American colonies in the 1630s. He played a significant role in the establishment of the town of Providence.

Another prominent individual with the Mowry surname was Sylvester Mowry (1830-1871), an American soldier and educator who fought in the American Civil War and later served as the president of Butler University in Indiana.

In the literary world, Jephtha Mowry (1795-1879) was an American poet and author who wrote several works, including "The Panorama of Life" and "Reflections on Nature and Nature's Laws."

Marjorie Mowry (1888-1970) was an American artist known for her landscape paintings and etchings, many of which depicted scenes from New England and the American West.

Lastly, Joseph Mowry (1849-1924) was an American businessman and politician who served as the mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, from 1907 to 1909.

These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the Mowry surname throughout history, with roots that can be traced back to medieval England and the original place name from which the surname derived.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Mowry

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

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

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