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

Stowe, 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 Stowe surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Stowe in America

Stowe is the 3355th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Stowe surname appeared 10,668 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 4 people would have the surname Stowe.

We can also compare 2010 data for Stowe 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 Stowe

The surname Stowe originated in England during the medieval period. It is a locational name derived from various places in England called Stow or Stowe, which come from the Old English word 'stow', meaning a place or a religious dwelling. The name likely referred to someone who lived near or came from one of these places.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Stowe can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as 'Stou' and 'Stowa'. This suggests that the name was already well-established in England by the late 11th century.

In the 13th century, the surname appeared in various forms, such as 'de Stowe', 'atte Stowe', and 'Stowe'. These variations indicate that the name was originally a place name that later became a hereditary surname.

One of the earliest known bearers of the name was John Stowe, an English historian and antiquarian who lived from 1525 to 1605. He is best known for his 'Survey of London', a chronicle of the history and topography of the city.

Another notable figure with the surname Stowe was Harriet Beecher Stowe, an American author and abolitionist who lived from 1811 to 1896. She is best known for her influential anti-slavery novel 'Uncle Tom's Cabin', which played a significant role in fueling the abolitionist movement in the United States.

In the 16th century, the surname Stowe was also associated with the village of Stowe in Buckinghamshire, England. The Stowe family, whose surname derived from this place, owned the Stowe House and Gardens, a significant English country house and landscaped gardens.

Other notable individuals with the surname Stowe include David Stowe, an American educator and historian who lived from 1930 to 1997, and Lyman Beecher Stowe, an American lawyer and author who lived from 1880 to 1963.

Throughout its history, the surname Stowe has been recorded with various spellings, including Stow, Stowes, Stowey, and Stowye, reflecting regional variations and changes in spelling conventions over time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Stowe

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

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

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

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