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

Powe, 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 Powe surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Powe in America

Powe is the 7821st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Powe surname appeared 4,233 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 Powe.

We can also compare 2010 data for Powe 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 Powe

The surname POWE is believed to have originated in England, with roots dating back to the late medieval period. It is thought to be a locational surname, derived from a place name such as Powe in Devonshire or a similar location.

This surname may have evolved from the Old English word "paw," which referred to a raised or elevated place, suggesting that the earliest bearers of the name lived near a hill or raised ground. Alternatively, some scholars propose that POWE could be a variant spelling of the French surname "Pouhe," derived from the Old French word "poue," meaning a hillock or small hill.

One of the earliest known recorded instances of the POWE surname can be found in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire from 1273, which mentions a Thomas de la Powe. This suggests that the surname was already established in England by the 13th century.

Among the notable historical figures who bore the POWE surname was John Powe (c. 1520 - 1585), an English cleric and academic who served as the President of St John's College, Oxford, from 1576 until his death. Another prominent individual was Richard Powe (1628 - 1679), an English lawyer and judge who served as a Justice of the King's Bench during the reign of King Charles II.

In the 16th century, records show a family of Powes residing in the village of Compton Pauncefoot, Somerset. This may be an early example of the surname's association with a specific location.

During the English Civil War in the 17th century, a Royalist soldier named Captain Thomas Powe (c. 1610 - 1660) fought for King Charles I and was captured by Parliamentary forces at the Battle of Worcester in 1651.

Another notable figure was John Powe (1691 - 1758), an English merchant and philanthropist from Bristol, who made significant charitable donations to various causes during his lifetime.

Throughout history, the POWE surname has also appeared with various spellings, such as Pow, Pou, and Poue, reflecting the linguistic and regional variations that were common in earlier centuries.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Powe

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

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

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