Sowter Surname
Approximately 1,767 people bear this surname
Sowter Surname Definition:
This surname is derived from an occupation. 'the souter,' i.e. shoemaker. Till lately in use in North England; compare Souter-gate in Tiverston, North Lancashire. (i.e. the shoemaker's road). 'Sowtare or cordewaner': Promptorium Parvulorum.
Read More About This SurnameSowter Surname Distribution Map
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 1,024 | 1:54,412 | 6,620 |
| Australia | 389 | 1:69,398 | 8,234 |
| United States | 126 | 1:2,876,658 | 169,773 |
| New Zealand | 121 | 1:37,424 | 6,365 |
| South Africa | 33 | 1:1,641,749 | 81,435 |
| Wales | 22 | 1:140,661 | 10,115 |
| Argentina | 12 | 1:3,561,951 | 138,643 |
| Canada | 11 | 1:3,349,599 | 180,238 |
| Scotland | 6 | 1:892,303 | 28,047 |
| Papua New Guinea | 5 | 1:1,630,743 | 129,019 |
| Singapore | 4 | 1:1,376,926 | 28,409 |
| Brazil | 4 | 1:53,518,583 | 632,670 |
| Northern Ireland | 2 | 1:922,518 | 18,701 |
| Japan | 1 | 1:127,844,293 | 73,547 |
| Germany | 1 | 1:80,505,459 | 560,955 |
| Ethiopia | 1 | 1:97,546,262 | 29,669 |
| South Korea | 1 | 1:51,240,256 | 8,015 |
| Sweden | 1 | 1:9,846,757 | 347,448 |
| Thailand | 1 | 1:70,638,345 | 1,175,915 |
| Chile | 1 | 1:17,616,474 | 93,597 |
| Uruguay | 1 | 1:3,431,758 | 38,295 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 639 | 1:38,146 | 4,909 |
| Scotland | 11 | 1:340,292 | 10,329 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 16 | 1:3,138,668 | 142,671 |
Sowter Surname Meaning
From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history
This surname is derived from an occupation. 'the souter,' i.e. shoemaker. Till lately in use in North England; compare Souter-gate in Tiverston, North Lancashire. (i.e. the shoemaker's road). 'Sowtare or cordewaner': Promptorium Parvulorum.
'Sowters and shepherdes.' - Piers Plowman.
'Cesse (Cecilia), the souteresse.' ibid.
'Also, everych sowtere that maketh shon of newe rothes lether,': Usages of Winchester (English Gilds).
John le Suter, Cambridgeshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.
William le Sutere, Cambridgeshire, ibid.
Johannes de Morton, souter: 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.
Johannes Schether, souter: 1379: ibid.
Johannes Sowter, sutor, 1379: ibid.
Adam Souterson, souiert 1379: ibid.
Robert le Souter, c. 1300. Writs of Parliament.
David le Souter, ibid.
From the occupation of shoemaker, cobbler (ME. soutere from ON. sütare).
"Of that surname I neid nocht be nschomit For I con mak schone, butekins and buittis: Gif me the coppie of the king's cuittis, And ye sail se, richt sune, quhat I can do." Lindsay, Ane Satyre of the Thrie Esteaites, 3143-6. Roger Sutor held land in Dumfries, a. 1214 (Kelso, 11), and Kolin, son of Anegus the Souter, was present at the pleas held at Dull in Angus in 1264 (RPSA., p. 349). Bernard called Sutor had a charter of a house in the tenement of Drumelzier, c. 1300-20 (Hay, 7), Fynlai sutor was prepositus of Stirling, 1327, and in 1330 Symon sutor was prepositus of the burgh of Culan (ER., I, p. 67,271). Henry dictus Sutor held a land in Perth, 1375 (Milne, p. 35), Moricius Sutar ond Simo Sutar de Der (Deer) were charged with being forestallers in Aberdeen, 1402, and several other persons of the name are mentioned there about the same time (CRA., p. 382-385; CWA., p. 312; NSCM., I, p. 3). Reginald Sowtar was burgess of Glasgow, 1422 (LCD., p. 242), Thomas Suteur, a Scots ship owner, had a sofe conduct into England in 1438 (Bain, IV, 1110), ond Thomas Soutar obtoined from the abbot of Cupar the lease of a portion of the land of Muirton in 1457 (Cupar-Angus, I, p. 235; II, p. 64). Duncan Seutter was tenant in Auchlyne under the bishop of Aberdeen, 1511 (REA., I, p. 363), and Johnne Soutare of Mont had a feu of part of the lands of Wester Banchreis in 1586 (Scon, p. 232). In 1460 some members of the house of Johnstone in Annandale assumed the name of Souter, in consequence of "some discontent," and settled in Perthshire. In August, 1663, by Act of Parliament, they were allowed to resume their ancient surname (APS., VII, p. 467). John Suitor, laborer in Ellon, and John Sutter, joiner there, were among the Jacobites of the '45. In some instances Souter is probably a translation of Grassick, which see. Patrick Southar in Strathdee in 1527 (Grant, III, p. 70). Sowtare 1464, Suttar 1633. Sir Thomas Urquhart relates as a tradition in his time (he died in 1660) that the two promontories of Cromarty, the "Soutars," were the work stools of two giants who supplied their comrades with shoes and buskins.
= Souter, q.v.
Used by Shakespeare as a dog-name— Sowter will cry upon’t for all this.—Twelfth Night, II. v. 137.
Anglo-Saxon sutere, from Latin sutor. A shoemaker. Still in use in Scotland.
From the Old Norse, Sóti; in the Domesday Book, Sota; from the German, Sotta, Sowade, Sauter; from the Dutch, Soeter, Souter; from the Flemish, Suttor; from the French, Sutter; a personal name.
Sowter Demographics
Sowter Political Affiliation
in United States
United States
Average
Sowter Last Name Facts
Where Does The Last Name Sowter Come From? nationality or country of origin
The surname Sowter is found in England more than any other country or territory. It may appear as:. For other potential spellings of Sowter click here.
How Common Is The Last Name Sowter? popularity and diffusion
The last name Sowter is the 229,324th most commonly used family name throughout the world. It is borne by around 1 in 4,124,248 people. This surname occurs mostly in Europe, where 60 percent of Sowter live; 60 percent live in Northern Europe and 60 percent live in British Isles.
This last name is most numerous in England, where it is carried by 1,024 people, or 1 in 54,412. In England it is primarily concentrated in: Nottinghamshire, where 17 percent are found, Derbyshire, where 13 percent are found and Staffordshire, where 9 percent are found. Aside from England Sowter exists in 20 countries. It also occurs in Australia, where 22 percent are found and The United States, where 7 percent are found.
Sowter Family Population Trend historical fluctuation
The frequency of Sowter has changed through the years. In England the share of the population with the last name increased 160 percent between 1881 and 2014; in The United States it increased 788 percent between 1880 and 2014 and in Scotland it declined 45 percent between 1881 and 2014.
Sowter Last Name Statistics demography
In The United States those bearing the Sowter surname are 13.44% more likely to be registered with the Democratic Party than the national average, with 66.67% registered with the political party.
The amount Sowter earn in different countries varies significantly. In South Africa they earn 50.05% more than the national average, earning R 356,568 per year; in United States they earn 25.9% more than the national average, earning $54,325 USD per year and in Canada they earn 20.46% more than the national average, earning $59,846 CAD per year.
Phonetically Similar Names
| Surname | Similarity | Worldwide Incidence | Prevalency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sowther | 92 | 0 | / |
| Sewter | 83 | 335 | / |
| Softer | 83 | 17 | / |
| Sovter | 83 | 14 | / |
| Cowter | 83 | 8 | / |
| Sawter | 83 | 6 | / |
| Sobter | 83 | 1 | / |
| Schowtter | 80 | 2 | / |
| Chowter | 77 | 116 | / |
| Shofter | 77 | 20 | / |
| Sewtier | 77 | 4 | / |
| Cowther | 77 | 3 | / |
| Scofter | 77 | 0 | / |
| Sawther | 77 | 0 | / |
| Shawter | 77 | 0 | / |
| Chowther | 71 | 1 | / |
| Shawther | 71 | 0 | / |
| Schofter | 71 | 0 | / |
| Safter | 67 | 229 | / |
| Sefter | 67 | 50 | / |
| Savter | 67 | 27 | / |
| Sufter | 67 | 9 | / |
| Schoefter | 67 | 9 | / |
| Covter | 67 | 4 | / |
| Sabter | 67 | 4 | / |
| Cofter | 67 | 2 | / |
| Zowtyr | 67 | 1 | / |
| Sovtyr | 67 | 1 | / |
| Jofter | 67 | 1 | / |
| Softheart | 67 | 1 | / |
| Zewter | 67 | 1 | / |
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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 Sowter
- To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on FamilySearch, MyHeritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis