How common is the surname Dowden?

3,829 people in the United States had the surname Dowden in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 80,633 Americans. It ranked 8,598th of 162,253 surnames.

Is the surname Dowden getting more or less common?

More common. 3,606 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 3,829 in 2010, up 6.2%.

The surname Dowden

An English patronymic surname, carried by 3,829 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex D350

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Dowden is more common than 94.7% of them.

Origin

English origin

Patronymic surname, from an unattested Old English personal name *Dogod, perhaps derived from dugan (“to avail, serve”).

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

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 3,829 people named Dowden in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 80,633 Americans. That is up 6.2% since 2000, when the Census counted 3,606.

#8,598

rank among US surnames

3,829

people in 2010

1.3

per 100,000 Americans

+6.2%

change since 2000 (was #8,419)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#8,594	Haack	3,832	80,570
#8,596	Shears	3,831	80,591
#8,597	Alter	3,830	80,612
#8,598	Dowden	3,829	80,633

Who is named Dowden

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

84% of people named Dowden identified as white (not Hispanic), 10% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 84%
Black (not Hispanic) 10%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.6%
Two or more races 1.7%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.1%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Dowding

Surnames that sound like Dowden

Doten

Dowden has the Soundex code D350, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code D350.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Dowden come from?: Patronymic surname, from an unattested Old English personal name *Dogod, perhaps derived from dugan (“to avail, serve”).
How common is the surname Dowden?: 3,829 people in the United States had the surname Dowden in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 80,633 Americans. It ranked 8,598th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Dowden?: In the 2010 Census, 84% of people named Dowden identified as white (not Hispanic), and 10% as Black (not Hispanic).
What type of surname is Dowden?: Dowden is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Dowden getting more or less common?: More common. 3,606 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 3,829 in 2010, up 6.2%.
What are other spellings of Dowden?: Dowding.