# Bowie (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/bowie/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 11,786 |
| US rank (2010) | 3,039 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 26,196 people |
| Change since 2000 | +7.7% (10,943 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈboʊ.i/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Irish Ó Buadhaigh and Scottish Gaelic Mac 'Ille Bhuidh.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Bowie in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 42% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 51% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.9% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.4% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.8% |
| Two or more races | 3.0% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Bowie in the United States.

## People named Bowie

- Tori Bowie, American sprinter and long jumper
- Sam Bowie, American basketball player (born 1961)
- Lester Bowie, American jazz trumpet player and composer (1941-1999)
- Anthony Bowie, American basketball player-coach
- William Bowie, American engineer and geodesist (1872–1940)
- Joseph Bowie, American jazz musician

## Similar surnames

Bowe, Bouie, Bow, Bo, Boyé, Booe, Bui, Bay, Bae, Buie, Bey, Bah.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.