# Cowling (surname)

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

A surname transferred from the given name.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 2,170 |
| US rank (2010) | 13,916 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 142,279 people |
| Change since 2000 | +0.2% (2,165 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Variant of Colling, a personal name which denoted an early owner of the properties.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Cowling 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) | 85% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 9.8% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1.8% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.3% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.0% |
| Two or more races | 2.4% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Cowling in the United Kingdom and the United States.

## People named Cowling

- Thomas George Cowling, British astronomer (1906–1990)
- Bruce Cowling, American actor (1919-1986)
- Brenda Cowling, British actress (1925–2010)

## Similar surnames

Colunga, Colling, Collins, Collings, Clinger, Clingan, Collingwood, Clancy, Cullins, Colangelo, Collinsworth, Clinkscales.

## 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.