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

Towers, 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 Towers surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Towers in America

Towers is the 7565th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Towers surname appeared 4,392 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 Towers.

We can also compare 2010 data for Towers 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 Towers

The surname Towers is of English origin and derives from the Old English word "tor" meaning a rock or rocky peak, which evolved into the word "tower" in Middle English. It is a locational surname, indicating that the earliest bearers of this name lived near a prominent tower or rocky outcrop.

The name can be traced back to the 13th century, with one of the earliest recorded instances being Walter atte Towere, mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1275. The prefix "atte" was a common Middle English indicator of residence or origin.

Several places in England are thought to have contributed to the surname's development, including the village of Tower in Lancashire and the hamlet of Towers in Warwickshire. The name may also have derived from geographical features like the Tor Hill in Glastonbury, Somerset.

In the Domesday Book of 1086, a survey of landowners commissioned by William the Conqueror, there are references to places like "La Tur" in Lincolnshire and "Ture" in Dorset, which could be related to the surname's origins.

Notable historical figures with the surname Towers include:

1. John Towers (c.1609-1649), an English writer and translator who was executed for his Royalist sympathies during the English Civil War.
2. Joseph Towers (1737-1799), an English dissenting minister and biographer, best known for his work on British biography.
3. William Towers (1617-1666), an English-born clergyman who became the first Anglican Bishop of Barbados.
4. Joseph Meredith Toner (1825-1896), an American physician and bibliographer, born Joseph Meredith Towers.
5. Ralston Towers (1905-1969), an American screenwriter and film producer active in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s.

The surname Towers has been well-represented throughout history, with bearers hailing from diverse professions and backgrounds, reflecting the name's enduring presence in the English-speaking world.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Towers

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

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

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

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