# Howe (surname)

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

An English topographic surname from Middle English for someone who lived by a small hill.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Norse |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 42,265 |
| US rank (2010) | 820 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 7,305 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.2% (40,555 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /haʊ/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

* As an English surname, from Middle English hoʒe (“steep ridge”), a late variant of hōge, dative case of Old English hoh (“hock, heel”), with likely influence from Old Norse haugr (“hill”). * Also as an English surname, variant of Hugh, pronounced to rhyme with how. * As a Norwegian surname, Americanized from Hove, from the dative singular of Old Norse hof (“place of worship”). * As an Irish surname, variant of Haugh; also a variant of Hoey. * As a Chinese surname, variant romanization of 侯, see also Hou. * Also as a Chinese surname, possibly from Cantonese form of the names 豪 (háo), 浩, and 昊 (hào).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Howe 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) | 91% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 3.2% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.1% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 1.0% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.3% |
| Two or more races | 1.8% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Howe in the United States and Australia.

## People named Howe

- Elias Howe, American inventor (1819–1867)
- Julia Ward Howe, American abolitionist, social activist, and poet
- Samuel Gridley Howe, American physician and abolitionist (1801–1876)
- Mark Howe, American-Canadian hockey defenseman
- Greg Howe, American musician
- Robert Howe, Australian tennis player (1925-2004)
- Brian Howe, American actor
- E. W. Howe, American novelist and editor (1853-1937)
- Timothy O. Howe, American politician (1816-1883)
- Irving Howe, American writer, literary and social critic and socialist activist (1920–1993)
- Linda Moulton Howe, American filmmaker & investigative reporter
- Wallace Howe, American actor (1878–1957)

and 16 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Howie, Howey, Ho, Hoey, Hoye, Hoe, Hu, Hay, Ha, He, Huey, Hoy.

## 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.