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

Sowa, 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 Sowa surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Sowa in America

Sowa is the 11524th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Sowa surname appeared 2,729 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 Sowa.

We can also compare 2010 data for Sowa 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 Sowa

The surname SOWA is of Polish origin and can be traced back to the 14th century. It is believed to have originated from the Polish word 'sowa', which means 'owl'. This suggests that the name may have originally been a nickname or a descriptive name given to someone who had a resemblance to an owl or exhibited characteristics associated with the bird.

The earliest recorded instances of the SOWA surname date back to the late 14th century in the historical records of the Krakow region in Poland. One of the earliest documented individuals with this surname was Jan SOWA, a landowner and farmer who lived in the village of Wola Justowska near Krakow in the late 1300s.

In the 16th century, the SOWA name appeared in various records and documents across different regions of Poland. Notable individuals from this period include Maciej SOWA (1520-1589), a prominent merchant and trader from the city of Poznan, and Katarzyna SOWA (1552-1621), a well-known herbalist and healer from the town of Lublin.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the SOWA surname continued to spread across Poland and was also found in neighboring regions of Eastern Europe. One notable figure from this time was Wojciech SOWA (1675-1742), a respected scholar and professor of philosophy at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow.

In the 19th century, the SOWA name gained further prominence with individuals such as Józef SOWA (1812-1878), a renowned painter and artist from Warsaw, and Maria SOWA (1832-1915), a celebrated opera singer who performed in various theaters across Europe.

Another notable individual with the SOWA surname was Jan SOWA (1865-1924), a Polish writer and journalist who played a significant role in the country's literary scene during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Throughout its history, the SOWA surname has been associated with various professions, including scholars, artists, merchants, and landowners, reflecting the diverse backgrounds and contributions of individuals bearing this name.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Sowa

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

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

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