Sow Surname

493rd
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 1,076,990 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
Senegal
Highest density in:
Senegal

Sow Surname User-submission:

Sow is a major surname of Fula (Peul/Fulani) origin. It represents one of the four primary 'caste' lineages of the Fula people, the other three being Diallo, Barry, and Ba. Historically, the Sow clan is associated with the traditional occupation of cattle herding and pastoralism, which is central to Fula identity.

Read More About This Surname

Sow Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Senegal561,4001:265
Guinea291,1241:419
Mauritania89,2371:463
Mali81,3781:20939
Burkina Faso14,0131:1,310197
Sierra Leone9,3411:759145
France6,9241:9,593905
Spain2,4351:19,2002,123
Morocco2,2831:15,1012,246
Malaysia2,0131:14,6521,489
Gambia1,9111:1,007150
Ivory Coast1,8851:12,239997
United States1,7121:211,71720,690
India1,6821:456,04423,488
Togo1,6801:4,314763
Belgium1,1481:10,0141,436
Chad1,0591:12,8351,627
Ghana8311:32,5163,831
Gabon8081:2,338404
Liberia7651:5,763699
Congo4991:9,9981,372
Canada3421:107,73611,580
Egypt3361:273,61818,414
Singapore2911:18,927769
England1881:296,37322,665
Saudi Arabia1591:194,06229,524
Brazil1441:1,486,62749,780
Papua New Guinea981:83,20111,009
Portugal851:122,5685,627
Netherlands841:201,03827,835
Italy831:736,82861,221
Germany751:1,073,40672,288
Switzerland681:120,77812,249
South Africa661:820,87455,153
Thailand591:1,197,260174,557
Cameroon531:391,86933,952
Indonesia501:2,644,984153,918
Guinea-Bissau491:35,26658
Sweden381:259,12517,909
Nigeria371:4,787,642126,894
Angola361:749,7002,649
Australia331:818,05251,601
Benin321:322,98825,835
Kuwait291:131,05814,967
Iraq261:1,346,98715,017
Sudan251:1,500,4083,610
China241:56,971,7323,099
Greece241:461,65859,466
Palestine241:189,5359,079
Niger231:834,43619,133
Luxembourg221:26,3884,799
DR Congo211:3,518,075145,665
Austria201:425,77243,235
Philippines191:5,328,328173,877
Norway181:285,68329,080
Tunisia161:38,1645,464
Ireland151:313,92910,911
United Arab Emirates101:916,22736,116
Central African Republic91:501,710179
Equatorial Guinea91:126,186322
Pakistan81:22,330,48677,733
Israel71:1,222,51968,299
Qatar61:393,00055,922
Czechia51:2,126,694115,412
Finland51:1,099,34045,512
Lithuania51:606,91821,375
Monaco51:7,4131,114
Wales51:618,90625,852
Hong Kong41:1,833,8716,220
Iceland41:95,0224,787
Mauritius41:323,35410,053
Mexico41:31,031,55163,627
Northern Cyprus41:79,7538,764
Rwanda41:2,841,2443,611
Taiwan41:5,861,18633,577
Tanzania41:13,235,40384,310
Algeria31:12,877,18484,902
Cape Verde31:176,5474,737
Haiti31:3,561,30220,668
Lebanon21:2,818,54225,087
Poland21:19,004,374199,659
Argentina11:42,743,414282,706
Bahrain11:1,348,60810,432
Bosnia and Herzegovina11:3,536,40219,532
Bulgaria11:6,978,90586,260
Burundi11:9,804,8522,349
Chile11:17,616,47493,597
Croatia11:4,228,60499,289
Denmark11:5,644,71593,155
Djibouti11:914,9321,612
French Polynesia11:280,8057,211
Guyana11:762,22114,420
Iran11:76,782,524277,718
Jamaica11:2,869,94713,896
Japan11:127,844,29373,547
Kenya11:46,179,900103,372
Malawi11:17,119,10934,144
Mongolia11:2,825,28917,010
Mozambique11:27,261,5697,432
New Caledonia11:276,22310,363
New Zealand11:4,528,32355,372
Puerto Rico11:3,550,1399,109
Romania11:20,077,87089,414
Russia11:144,123,056881,408
Scotland11:5,353,81763,002
Serbia11:7,144,94838,459
South Korea11:51,240,2568,015
Syria11:19,301,02222,457
Turkey11:77,821,422191,047
Uganda11:39,039,279258,887
Venezuela11:30,204,07785,459
Zambia11:15,849,92253,989
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England151:1,625,02553,310
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States891:564,25538,527

The alternate forms: Şow (1) are calculated separately.

Sow (15,703) may also be a first name.

Sow Surname Meaning

User-submitted Reference

Sow is a major surname of Fula (Peul/Fulani) origin. It represents one of the four primary 'caste' lineages of the Fula people, the other three being Diallo, Barry, and Ba. Historically, the Sow clan is associated with the traditional occupation of cattle herding and pastoralism, which is central to Fula identity. In the complex joking relationship system (sanankuya) of West Africa, bearers of the name Sow often have a traditional, playful rivalry with the Barry clan. While originally a Fula name, it has been assimilated into Wolof society over centuries of migration and intermarriage.

- jakep2

Sow Last Name Facts

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

The surname Sow (Arabic: صو, Hassaniya-Arabic: ﺻﻮ, Tibetan: སོའོ་) occurs most in Senegal. It can be rendered as a variant: Şow. For other possible spellings of Sow click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Sow? popularity and diffusion

The last name is the 493rd most widespread last name globally, borne by around 1 in 6,767 people. The last name Sow is mostly found in Africa, where 98 percent of Sow reside; 98 percent reside in West Africa and 61 percent reside in Senegambia Africa. Sow is also the 44,970th most widely held forename on earth It is held by 15,703 people.

This surname is most frequent in Senegal, where it is borne by 561,400 people, or 1 in 26. In Senegal it is most common in: Louga Region, where 19 percent are found, Dakar Region, where 17 percent are found and Saint Louis Region, where 16 percent are found. Apart from Senegal it occurs in 111 countries. It is also common in Guinea, where 27 percent are found and Mauritania, where 8 percent are found.

Sow Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The occurrence of Sow has changed over time. In The United States the share of the population with the last name increased 1,924 percent between 1880 and 2014 and in England it increased 1,253 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Sow Last Name Statistics demography

In The United States those bearing the Sow last name are 34.9% more likely to be registered Democrats than the national average, with 88.13% being registered to vote for the party.

The amount Sow earn in different countries varies greatly. In Italy they earn 91.25% less than the national average, earning €2,627 per year; in Norway they earn 10.83% less than the national average, earning 308,595 kr per year; in South Africa they earn 43.46% less than the national average, earning R 134,352 per year; in United States they earn 21.14% less than the national average, earning $34,026 USD per year and in Canada they earn 25.62% less than the national average, earning $36,952 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Şow891/
Sowa8651,600/
Show8637,416/
Sowe8635,137/
Siow8610,640/
Souw86546/
Soow8671/
Sowh869/
Sohw869/
Soew867/
Sowf866/
Sowz864/
Ssow863/
Xsow862/
Soiw862/
Soww862/
Sosw862/
Sowp862/
Sgow861/
Sxow861/
Szow861/
Suow861/
Soyw861/
Sjow861/
Sowt861/
Schow751,973/
Showa751,006/
Showe75460/
Sjouw75138/
Shouw7549/
Souwe7547/
Szowa7523/
Soowe7515/
Sowhe754/
Shoow753/
Soiwe753/
Siowe752/
Hsiow751/
Showw751/
Sshow751/
Shhow751/
Showp751/
Showf751/
Sohws750/
Showt750/
Scouw750/
Shoew750/
Showz750/
Saw67963,661/
Jow672,808/
Sob672,642/
Schouw671,678/
Sof671,102/
Sov67332/
Suw67200/
Zow67125/
Schoew6784/
Sawowa6726/
Showhe6717/
Shohwe6711/
Sowová6711/
Schows676/
Xow675/
Subowa674/
Soohwe673/
Sofowa673/
Soijwe672/
Safowa672/
Shssow670/
Showfe670/
Schoww670/

Sow Name Transliterations

TransliterationICU LatinPercentage of Incidence
Sow in the Tibetan language
སོའོ་soo-
Sow in the Hassaniya-Arabic language
ﺻﻮsw98.62
ﺻﻮﻩswh1.19
ﺻﺎﻭsaw0.08
ﺳﻮsw0.05
ﺳﻮﻩswh0.01
ﺻﻮﺍswa0
ﻳﻮﺭﻭywrw0
ﺍﺻﻮasw0
ﻣﻮmw0
ﺁﻣﺪﻭamdw0
ﺳﺎﻭsaw0
ﺻـﻮsw0
ﺣﻮhw0
ﺳﻮﻭsww0
Sow in the Arabic language
صوsw-

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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 Sow
  • 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