Clow Surname

68,156th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 7,290 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
United States
Highest density in:
Scotland

Clow Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'at the clough,' which see. North English clow; compare enough and enow. With the patronymic Clowes, compare Brooks for Brook, Sykes for Syke, Holmes for Holme, Styles for Style, &c. No doubt it is the genitival form, as in Williams, Jones, Jennings, &c.

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Clow Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States3,9091:92,72410,415
Canada1,3431:27,4353,644
England1,1861:46,9805,906
Australia3061:88,22110,161
Scotland2261:23,6892,638
New Zealand1741:26,0254,563
South Africa441:1,231,31169,478
Wales221:140,66110,115
Thailand171:4,155,197336,594
Northern Ireland141:131,7887,342
Germany61:13,417,576340,600
China51:273,464,31313,838
Russia31:48,041,019639,186
Brazil31:71,358,111770,017
Honduras21:4,408,2217,709
Mexico21:62,063,10283,384
Argentina21:21,371,707253,176
Philippines21:50,619,112341,003
Italy21:30,578,344160,757
Ecuador11:15,905,84650,210
Ireland11:4,708,93929,543
Algeria11:38,631,551130,422
Bangladesh11:159,356,77326,077
Hong Kong11:7,335,48316,643
Israel11:8,557,634182,558
United Arab Emirates11:9,162,273135,437
Turkey11:77,821,422191,047
Colombia11:47,774,07244,230
Spain11:46,752,036156,870
Cyprus11:884,87613,055
Singapore11:5,507,70347,049
Saudi Arabia11:30,855,81763,028
Georgia11:3,745,54547,852
Portugal11:10,418,24125,048
Peru11:31,784,12364,452
Nigeria11:177,142,758748,972
Egypt11:91,935,754132,737
Netherlands11:16,887,176156,465
Malawi11:17,119,10934,144
Jersey11:99,2026,620
Japan11:127,844,29373,547
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland251:177,1958,871
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England6101:39,9605,082
Scotland2901:12,9081,523
Wales51:313,68310,604
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States1,2241:41,0284,811

Clow (20) may also be a first name.

Clow Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'at the clough,' which see. North English clow; compare enough and enow. With the patronymic Clowes, compare Brooks for Brook, Sykes for Syke, Holmes for Holme, Styles for Style, &c. No doubt it is the genitival form, as in Williams, Jones, Jennings, &c. Middle English clow, or clough. 'Sende him to seche in clif and clow': Cursor Mundi, Trin. MS. (v. Clough, Skeat's Dict.).

Willelmus de Clowe, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

Edward Clowes, of Northwich, 1649: Wills at Chester.

Richard Clowes, of Whiteley, yeoman, 1645: ibid.

1595. William Gregory and Joan Clowes: Marriage Lic. (London).

1725. Married — James Finch and Diana Clews: St. George, Hanover Square.

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

Of local origin from the small place of the name in the parish of Dunning, Perthshire. Lawrence Clow was witness in Perth 1547 (Rollok, 28). Andrew Clow in Pett, parish of Muthill, 1663, and fourteen more of the name from 1610 onward, are recorded in Dunblane Commissariot Record. Andrew Clow, soldier in Edinburgh, 1674 (Edinb. Marr.), Laurence Clow in Gillgrastoune (now Kilgraston), 1687 (Inquis., 6874). John Clow, merchant in Crieff, 1717, and three others of the name are in Dunkeld Commissariot Record. A payment was made to Agnes Clow in Edinburgh, 1736 (Guildry, p. 156), and Jenny Clow in Edinburgh bore a son to Robert Bums the poet. James Claw, burgess of Culross, 1632 (Dunblane), may be another spelling (compare Thaw and Thow).

The Surnames of Scotland (1946) by George Fraser Black (1866-1948)

(English) Dweller at a Hollow or Ravine [Middle English clo(u)gh, Old English *clóh] Adam del Clogh, A.D. 1364.—Lanc. Fines.

The one them hight Adam Bel, The other Clym of the Clough, The thyrd was William of Cloudesly, An archer good ynough.—'Adam Bel, &c.’: Percy's Reliques.

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

“Valley” in Old English. Compare Afrikaans “Kloof”.

South African Surnames (1965) by Eric Rosenthal

(English) Dweller at a hollow or ravine.

Dictionary of American Family Names (1956) by Elsdon Coles Smith

A rock. Anglo-Saxon Halliw. 'Clows,' in Dugdale's Hist, of Imbanking, signify floodgates.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

(Anglo—Saxon.) Local. A cliff or cleft in a hill; from Clough, as above.

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

Clow Last Name Facts

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

The last name Clow occurs most in The United States. It may be rendered as a variant:. Click here to see other possible spellings of this name.

How Common Is The Last Name Clow? popularity and diffusion

The last name Clow is the 68,156th most numerous last name on a worldwide basis, held by around 1 in 999,663 people. This last name occurs predominantly in The Americas, where 69 percent of Clow are found; 68 percent are found in North America and 68 percent are found in Anglo-North America. Clow is also the 2,446,817th most frequent first name worldwide, held by 20 people.

The last name is most frequently used in The United States, where it is held by 3,909 people, or 1 in 92,724. In The United States Clow is primarily concentrated in: California, where 14 percent reside, Illinois, where 8 percent reside and Texas, where 5 percent reside. Apart from The United States this surname is found in 40 countries. It is also found in Canada, where 18 percent reside and England, where 16 percent reside.

Clow Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The frequency of Clow has changed over time. In The United States the number of people who held the Clow last name rose 319 percent between 1880 and 2014; in England it rose 194 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Scotland it contracted 22 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Wales it rose 440 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Ireland it contracted 96 percent between 1901 and 2014.

Clow Last Name Statistics demography

The religious devotion of those carrying the Clow surname is principally Presbyterian (92%) in Ireland.

In The United States those holding the Clow surname are 8.8% more likely to be registered Republicans than the national average, with 55.57% registered to vote for the party.

The amount Clow earn in different countries varies notably. In South Africa they earn 17.18% less than the national average, earning R 196,800 per year; in United States they earn 5.13% more than the national average, earning $45,361 USD per year and in Canada they earn 5.05% less than the national average, earning $47,174 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Clowe89727/
Clowa8959/
Clouw8934/
Clows8929/
Chlow898/
Cluow893/
Clowch802/
Cillow802/
Claw75525/
Klow75112/
Clob7569/
Clov755/
Zlow751/
Clof751/
Cluw751/
Chillow7314/
Chellow7313/
Clauw67929/
Klouw67214/
Klowe67119/
Klowa6762/
Cloff6751/
Kloow6737/
Clova6736/
Cloof6735/
Chlov6734/
Cloft6729/
Chlob6713/
Klows6712/
Cleof679/
Clofe676/
Cloov675/
Cloub673/
Cloob673/
Cloyf672/
Clawe671/
Clopf671/
Clovs671/
Clouv671/
Qlowa671/
Cleov671/
Cslaw671/
Clouf671/
Clawh670/
Cliob670/

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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 Clow
  • 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