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

Sowders, 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 Sowders surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Sowders in America

Sowders is the 16687th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Sowders surname appeared 1,716 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 Sowders.

We can also compare 2010 data for Sowders 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 Sowders

The surname Sowders is believed to have originated in Germany, with the earliest records dating back to the 16th century. It is thought to be derived from the German word "sauder," which means "a swineherd" or "a keeper of pigs." This suggests that the name may have been initially given as an occupational surname to those who worked as swineherds or pig farmers.

In the early 17th century, the name Sowders began appearing in various German records and documents, such as church registers and census records. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name was in 1612, when a man named Hans Sowders was listed as a resident of the town of Darmstadt, in the German state of Hesse.

As the surname spread throughout Germany and other parts of Europe, variations in spelling emerged, including Sauder, Sauders, and Souwders. These variations were often the result of regional dialects and the personal preferences of those recording the names.

In the late 18th century, the Sowders name began appearing in historical records in North America, suggesting that some bearers of the name had immigrated to the New World. One notable early American with the surname was Johann Sowders, who was born in 1745 in Pennsylvania and served as a private in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.

Another significant figure in the history of the Sowders name was Wilhelm Sowders, born in 1801 in Saxony, Germany. He was a prominent philosopher and writer who published several influential works on ethics and political theory during the mid-19th century.

In the 19th century, the Sowders name continued to spread across Europe and North America, with several notable individuals bearing the surname. These included Friedrich Sowders (1822-1891), a German mathematician and professor at the University of Berlin, and Mary Sowders (1845-1923), an American educator and women's rights activist from Ohio.

Other notable individuals with the surname Sowders include Hans Sowders (1879-1964), a German-born American painter and sculptor known for his works depicting life in the American West, and Elise Sowders (1892-1972), a French novelist and poet who was a prominent figure in the Parisian literary circles of the early 20th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Sowders

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

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

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

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