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

Plowden, 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 Plowden surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Plowden in America

Plowden is the 20676th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Plowden surname appeared 1,280 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 Plowden.

We can also compare 2010 data for Plowden 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 Plowden

The surname PLOWDEN is of English origin, and its roots can be traced back to the medieval period, specifically to the 12th and 13th centuries. The name is derived from the Old English word "plowden," which means "valley of the plough" or "plowed valley," indicating that the earliest bearers of this surname likely resided in a plowed valley or agricultural area.

The PLOWDEN surname is closely associated with the county of Shropshire in the West Midlands region of England. It is believed that the name originated from the village of Plowden, which is located in this county. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in various historical documents from the 13th century, such as the Hundred Rolls and the Pipe Rolls.

One of the earliest notable individuals with the PLOWDEN surname was Edmund Plowden (1518-1585), an English jurist and legal scholar who served as a Member of Parliament and is renowned for his work "The Commentaries or Reports." He played a significant role in shaping the development of English common law.

Another prominent figure bearing the PLOWDEN surname was Francis Plowden (1592-1673), an English Catholic historian and controversialist who wrote extensively on the Catholic cause during the 17th century. His works include "A Treatise of the Christian Court or Metropolitical Visitations" and "A Remonstrance of Piety and Innocence."

In the 18th century, Charles Plowden (1743-1821) was a notable English Catholic historian and lawyer. He authored several works on legal and historical topics, including "The Jura Anglorum" and "The History of Ireland."

The PLOWDEN surname also has a connection to the Domesday Book, the famous record compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. While the name PLOWDEN itself is not mentioned, there are references to the village of Plowden in Shropshire, suggesting that the surname may have originated from this location.

Additionally, the surname PLOWDEN has been associated with various place names and their older spellings, such as Plowedon, Plowedun, and Plowden-Warde, which were recorded in historical documents from the 13th and 14th centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Plowden

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

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

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

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