How common is the surname Dow?

15,472 people in the United States had the surname Dow in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 19,955 Americans. It ranked 2,356th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Dow?

In the 2010 Census, 83% of people named Dow identified as white (not Hispanic), and 9.6% as Black (not Hispanic).

Who is the most famous person named Dow?

Charles Dow, American journalist (1851–1902), followed by Arthur Wesley Dow.

Where is the surname Dow most common?

Wikidata records people named Dow in the United States.

Is the surname Dow getting more or less common?

More common. 14,622 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 15,472 in 2010, up 5.8%.

Is Dow also a first name?

Yes. Dow is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Dow

A patronymic surname, carried by 15,472 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex D000

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Dow is more common than 98.5% of them.

Origin

Variant of Daw from David or daw, and of Duff from Scottish Gaelic.

Dow is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 15,472 people named Dow in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 19,955 Americans. That is up 5.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 14,622.

#2,356

rank among US surnames

15,472

people in 2010

5.3

per 100,000 Americans

+5.8%

change since 2000 (was #2,278)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#2,347	Monahan	15,533	19,877
#2,348	Beavers	15,531	19,879
#2,349	Julian	15,520	19,893
#2,350	Ceballos	15,515	19,900
#2,351	Leary	15,505	19,913
#2,352	Borden	15,500	19,919
#2,354	Nagy	15,497	19,923

Who is named Dow

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

83% of people named Dow identified as white (not Hispanic), 9.6% as Black (not Hispanic) and 3.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 83%
Black (not Hispanic) 9.6%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.2%
Two or more races 2.0%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.8%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Dows

6 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Charles Dow
American journalist (1851–1902)
Arthur Wesley Dow
American painter and photographer (1857–1922)
Peggy Dow
American actress, born 1928
Tony Dow
American actor, film director and film producer (1945–2022)
Neal S. Dow
American Prohibition advocate and politician (1804–1897)
Nancy Dow
Actress, memoirist (1936-2016)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Dow

Dow has the Soundex code D000, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code D000.

Questions

Where does the surname Dow come from?: Variant of Daw from David or daw, and of Duff from Scottish Gaelic.
How common is the surname Dow?: 15,472 people in the United States had the surname Dow in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 19,955 Americans. It ranked 2,356th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Dow?: In the 2010 Census, 83% of people named Dow identified as white (not Hispanic), and 9.6% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Dow?: Charles Dow, American journalist (1851–1902), followed by Arthur Wesley Dow.
Where is the surname Dow most common?: Wikidata records people named Dow in the United States.
What type of surname is Dow?: Dow is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Dow getting more or less common?: More common. 14,622 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 15,472 in 2010, up 5.8%.
Is Dow also a first name?: Yes. Dow is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.