Bow Surname

82,506th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 5,873 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
United States
Highest density in:
Isle of Man

Bow Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'at the Bow,' a sign-name, from residence at an inn so called; compare Roebuck. A likely sign in the days of archery.

Roger atte Bowe, citizen of London. Close Rolls, 9 Edward II.

Read More About This Surname

Bow Surname Distribution Map

By incidenceBy frequencyBy rank
Incidence (high to low)Incidence (low to high)Alphabetic A-ZAlphabetic Z-ARank (high to low)Rank (low to high)
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States2,4851:145,85915,062
Australia6841:39,4675,112
England5451:102,23510,753
Bangladesh5411:294,5608,696
Canada2861:128,83113,423
Scotland2651:20,2032,357
Saudi Arabia2391:129,10417,726
India1331:5,767,409137,347
South Africa1171:463,05738,677
Thailand901:784,870127,251
Wales811:38,2043,749
New Zealand681:66,59310,133
Indonesia401:3,306,230179,945
Singapore341:161,9916,884
Chile201:880,82418,509
China181:75,962,3094,162
Mauritania171:240,87411,443
Malaysia161:1,843,38974,511
Hong Kong151:489,0323,321
Netherlands141:1,206,22770,951
Isle of Man101:8,5821,778
Myanmar91:5,770,887975
Ghana91:3,002,29911,581
United Arab Emirates81:1,145,28440,289
Taiwan71:3,349,24920,155
Senegal71:2,082,7634,662
Israel71:1,222,51968,299
Vietnam61:15,441,0093,090
Spain51:9,350,407109,555
Nicaragua51:1,204,2185,298
Liberia51:881,70733,815
Vanuatu41:65,8191,151
Jordan41:2,210,60920,372
Mali41:4,242,2592,433
Egypt41:22,983,93862,368
Mexico41:31,031,55163,627
Morocco41:8,619,02573,251
Brazil31:71,358,111770,017
Switzerland31:2,737,638105,941
France31:22,140,907385,998
Germany31:26,835,153452,368
Northern Ireland31:615,01218,081
Italy31:20,385,563143,117
Ireland21:2,354,47019,715
Nigeria21:88,571,379625,098
Poland21:19,004,374199,659
Afghanistan21:16,076,59243,178
Belgium21:5,748,322130,559
Argentina21:21,371,707253,176
Dominican Republic11:10,432,93236,508
Wallis and Futuna11:13,610185
Syria11:19,301,02222,457
Cambodia11:15,487,14614,824
Trinidad and Tobago11:1,363,97522,013
Turkey11:77,821,422191,047
Ukraine11:45,522,696503,646
Barbados11:287,4482,772
Uruguay11:3,431,75838,295
Yemen11:26,425,29455,147
Venezuela11:30,204,07785,459
Benin11:10,335,602103,742
Papua New Guinea11:8,153,717181,784
Iran11:76,782,524277,718
Iraq11:35,021,65431,813
Greece11:11,079,790145,225
Ivory Coast11:23,071,23276,679
Kenya11:46,179,900103,372
Luxembourg11:580,54215,155
Gambia11:1,923,4511,043
Oman11:3,687,97114,390
Pakistan11:178,643,885213,220
Panama11:3,912,25817,195
Sudan11:37,510,19514,259
Portugal11:10,418,24125,048
Romania11:20,077,87089,414
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines11:112,6591,704
Grenada11:108,5351,793
Serbia11:7,144,94838,459
Cuba11:11,522,71617,380
Somalia11:13,452,0619,224
Cameroon11:20,769,068227,406
South Korea11:51,240,2568,015
Show All Nations
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland191:233,15110,389
Incidence (high to low)Incidence (low to high)Alphabetic A-ZAlphabetic Z-ARank (high to low)Rank (low to high)
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England4201:58,0376,832
Scotland2661:14,0721,605
Wales181:87,1343,963
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States7221:69,5557,530

Bow (2,181) may also be a first name.

Bow Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'at the Bow,' a sign-name, from residence at an inn so called; compare Roebuck. A likely sign in the days of archery.

Roger atte Bowe, citizen of London. Close Rolls, 9 Edward II.

1403. Cristina atte Bowe: Cal. of Wills in Court of Hunting (2).

1579. John Bowe and Joanna Bybie: Marriage Lic. (London).

1580. William Bow, Cumberland: Register of the University of Oxford.

1801. Married — Richard Hartley and Lydia Bow: St. George, Hanover Square.

— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

(English) 1 the Anglo-Saxon pers. name Boga = Bow.

2 Dweller at the sign of a Bow (Middle English bowe, Old English boga] 3 Dweller at an Archway or Arched Bridge [same etymology] Roger atte Bowe, A.D. 1315-6.—Close Rolls.

— Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

Parishes in Devon and Essex.

— Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

A parish in Yorkshire.

— Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

This surname, according to Grose, originated as follows: about the time of the Conqueror, there was a town (on the site of the Castle of Bowes), which the tradition of the family states, was burned. It then belonged to the Earls of Brittany and Richmond. The castle was built, as Mr. Horseley thinks, out of the ruins of the Roman Fortress, by Alan Niger, the second earl of that title, who, it is said, placed therein William, his relation, with five hundred archers to defend it against some insurgents in Cambridge and Westmorland confederated with the Scots, giving him for the device of his standard the arms of Brittany, with three bows and a bundle of arrows, whence both the castle and the commander derived their names; the former being called Bowes Castle, and the latter, William de Arcubus, or William Bowes.

— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names (1857) by William Arthur

Bowes is a name evidently taken from the North Riding parish thus called. The family of Bowes of Aske, in the North Riding, played a notable part in the county during the 16th and 17th centuries (W. R.). The name has long been prominently connected with York, and it is in that locality that it is now best represented. Lord mayors of York and the representatives of the city in parliament during the 15th century bore this name (D.). A gentle family of Bowes has been connected with Darlington since the 17th century (Longstaffe's "Darlington").

— Homes of Family Names in Great Britain (1890) by Henry Brougham Guppy
DNA test information
Display Statistics on:

Bow Demographics

Bow Religious Adherence
in Ireland

Sample size: 18 (1901)

Religious Adherence
in Ireland

View the most religious surnames in Ireland

Bow Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Bow Come From? nationality or country of origin

The last name Bow (Hassaniya-Arabic: ﺍﺑﻮ, Tibetan: བོཝ་) is found most in The United States. It may also appear in the variant forms:. For other possible spellings of Bow click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Bow? popularity and diffusion

The surname Bow is the 82,506th most widespread family name at a global level, held by approximately 1 in 1,240,856 people. It occurs predominantly in The Americas, where 46 percent of Bow live; 46 percent live in North America and 45 percent live in Anglo-North America. It is also the 160,479th most commonly occurring first name in the world It is held by 2,181 people.

The surname is most frequently held in The United States, where it is borne by 2,485 people, or 1 in 145,859. In The United States it is most numerous in: California, where 13 percent are found, Texas, where 12 percent are found and Michigan, where 9 percent are found. Other than The United States it is found in 81 countries. It also occurs in Australia, where 12 percent are found and England, where 9 percent are found.

Bow Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The frequency of Bow has changed through the years. In The United States the number of people bearing the Bow last name rose 344 percent between 1880 and 2014; in England it rose 130 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Wales it rose 450 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Ireland it fell 89 percent between 1901 and 2014.

Bow Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those holding the surname is predominantly Anglican (50%) in Ireland.

In The United States those holding the Bow last name are 17.35% more likely to be registered Republicans than The US average, with 64.12% registered with the party.

The amount Bow earn in different countries varies markedly. In South Africa they earn 37.6% more than the national average, earning R 326,988 per year; in United States they earn 0.73% more than the national average, earning $43,462 USD per year and in Canada they earn 2.37% more than the national average, earning $50,862 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

Incidence (high to low)Incidence (low to high)Alphabetic A-ZAlphabetic Z-ASimilarity (high to low)Similarity (low to high)Prevalent jurisdiction A-ZPrevalent jurisdiction Z-A
SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Bowe8617,435/
Bowa8614,652/
Bouw863,369/
Bhow86236/
Boow86138/
Boew8624/
Bowh869/
Bowt862/
Boww861/
Bowf861/
Bowp861/
Bovw861/
Boyw861/
Bouwe751,341/
Bouws75282/
Bhowa75208/
Bowsz7520/
Buowe7515/
Boiwe7510/
Bowhe756/
Bowth755/
Boowe754/
Bowch752/
Boywe752/
Bhoyw751/
Bochw751/
Boows751/
Bojwe751/
Bowsh751/
Bowpp751/
Bob6736,425/
Bof672,055/
Baw671,045/
Bov67602/
Buw6732/
Bafowa676/
Bowowa671/
Buwowa671/
Bofowa671/
Bhoywe671/
Bhowth671/
Uanbow670/
Show All Similar Surnames

Bow Name Transliterations

TransliterationICU LatinPercentage of Incidence
Bow in the Hassaniya-Arabic language
ﺍﺑﻮabw-
Bow in the Tibetan language
བོཝ་bowa33.33
བའོ་bao33.33
སྦོའུ་bo'u33.33

Search for Another Surname

Bow Reference & Research

Bowes One-name Study - A profile of the Bowes surname with contact details for a researcher who collects any information pertaining to it.

The name statistics are still in development, sign up for information on more maps and data

By signing up to the mailing list you will only receive emails specifically about name reference on Forebears and your information will not be distributed to 3rd parties.

Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Bow
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis