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    The surname Bowie

    A surname, carried by 11,786 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /ˈboʊ.i/ 2 syllables Soundex B000

    Bowie: #3,039 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon Bowie #3,039, 11,786 people Bowie: #3,039 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Bowie #3,039, 11,786 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Bowie is more common than 98.1% of them.

    Origin

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

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 11,786 people named Bowie in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 26,196 Americans. That is up 7.7% since 2000, when the Census counted 10,943.

    #3,039
    rank among US surnames
    11,786
    people in 2010
    4.0
    per 100,000 Americans
    +7.7%
    change since 2000 (was #3,036)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #3,031Shanks11,82226,116
    #3,032O'Sullivan11,81826,125
    #3,033Delvalle11,81626,129
    #3,034Hite11,81026,143
    #3,035Arenas11,80926,145
    #3,036Tomlin11,79726,172
    #3,037Cardwell11,79126,185

    Who is named Bowie

    Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

    51% of people named Bowie identified as Black (not Hispanic), 42% as white (not Hispanic) and 3.0% as two or more races.

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

    Compare: most common surnames among Black Americans.

    Famous Bowies

    6 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Tori Bowie
      American sprinter and long jumper, 1990–2023
    • Sam Bowie
      American basketball player (born 1961)
    • Lester Bowie
      American jazz trumpet player and composer (1941-1999)
    • Anthony Bowie
      American basketball player-coach, born 1963
    • William Bowie
      American engineer and geodesist (1872–1940)
    • Joseph Bowie
      American jazz musician, born 1953

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like Bowie

    Bowie has the Soundex code B000, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code B000.

    Questions

    Where does the surname Bowie come from?
    From Irish Ó Buadhaigh and Scottish Gaelic Mac 'Ille Bhuidh.
    How common is the surname Bowie?
    11,786 people in the United States had the surname Bowie in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 26,196 Americans. It ranked 3,039th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Bowie?
    In the 2010 Census, 51% of people named Bowie identified as Black (not Hispanic), and 42% as white (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Bowie?
    Tori Bowie, American sprinter and long jumper, followed by Sam Bowie.
    Where is the surname Bowie most common?
    Wikidata records people named Bowie in the United States.
    How do you pronounce Bowie?
    Bowie is /ˈboʊ.i/, 2 syllables.
    Is the surname Bowie getting more or less common?
    More common. 10,943 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 11,786 in 2010, up 7.7%.