How common is the surname Cowley?

5,868 people in the United States had the surname Cowley in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 52,615 Americans. It ranked 5,881st of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Cowley?

Patrick Cowley, American musician (1950–1982), followed by Malcolm Cowley.

Where is the surname Cowley most common?

Wikidata records people named Cowley in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.

How do you pronounce Cowley?

Cowley is /ˈkaʊli/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Cowley getting more or less common?

More common. 5,619 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 5,868 in 2010, up 4.4%.

The surname Cowley

An English place surname, carried by 5,868 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈkaʊli/ 2 syllables Soundex C400

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Cowley is more common than 96.4% of them.

Origin

English origin

Various origins: * The village in Gloucestershire is from Old English cū (“cow”) + lēah (“woodland clearing, glade”); equivalent to cow + -ley (“lea”). * The hamlet in Derbyshire is from Old English col (“coal”) + lēah (“woodland clearing, glade”); equivalent to coal + -ley (“lea”). * The other places in England are from the Old English personal name Cufa + lēah (“woodland clearing, glade”).

Cowley is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 5,868 people named Cowley in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 52,615 Americans. That is up 4.4% since 2000, when the Census counted 5,619.

#5,881

rank among US surnames

5,868

people in 2010

2.0

per 100,000 Americans

+4.4%

change since 2000 (was #5,664)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#5,875	Lombard	5,873	52,570
#5,877	Kuhl	5,872	52,579
#5,878	Wen	5,870	52,597
#5,881	Spinks	5,868	52,615

Who is named Cowley

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

86% of people named Cowley identified as white (not Hispanic), 7.7% as Black (not Hispanic) and 3.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 86%
Black (not Hispanic) 7.7%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.5%
Two or more races 1.6%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.3%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Cowleys

4 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Patrick Cowley
American musician (1950–1982)
Malcolm Cowley
American novelist (1898–1989)
Rhydian Cowley
Australian male racewalker, born 1991
Elizabeth Jill Cowley
British botanist, born 1940

Notable Cowleys come mostly from the United States (2), Australia (1) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Cowley

Cowley has the Soundex code C400, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code C400.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Cowley come from?: Various origins: * The village in Gloucestershire is from Old English cū (“cow”) + lēah (“woodland clearing, glade”); equivalent to cow + -ley (“lea”). * The hamlet in Derbyshire is from Old English col (“coal”) + lēah (“woodland clearing, glade”); equivalent to coal + -ley (“lea”). * The other…
How common is the surname Cowley?: 5,868 people in the United States had the surname Cowley in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 52,615 Americans. It ranked 5,881st of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Cowley?: In the 2010 Census, 86% of people named Cowley identified as white (not Hispanic), and 7.7% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Cowley?: Patrick Cowley, American musician (1950–1982), followed by Malcolm Cowley.
Where is the surname Cowley most common?: Wikidata records people named Cowley in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.
How do you pronounce Cowley?: Cowley is /ˈkaʊli/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Cowley?: Cowley is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Cowley getting more or less common?: More common. 5,619 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 5,868 in 2010, up 4.4%.