# Howell (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/howell/  
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 derived 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) | 112,041 |
| US rank (2010) | 272 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 2,756 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.2% (109,634 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /haʊ(w)əɫ/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Welsh Hywel. Doublet of Huell and Powell.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Howell 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) | 79% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 15% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 1.8% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Howell in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and the Kingdom of England.

## People named Howell

- C. Thomas Howell, American actor and film director (born 1966)
- Kirby Howell-Baptiste, British actress
- Maria Howell, American actress, singer and composer
- Bailey Howell, American basketball player (born 1937)
- Walter Howell, Australian rower
- David Howell, British chess player
- James Howell, Anglo-Welsh historian and writer
- Thomas J. Howell, American botanist (1842-1912)
- Alice Howell, American actress (1888-1961)
- Dick Howell, American swimmer, former world record-holder
- Yvonne Howell, American actress (1905-2010)
- William Henry Howell, American physiologist (1860–1945)

and 14 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Holley, Holly, Holl, Howley, Hollie, Holle, Helle, Hole, Hoel, Howle, Hill, Hall.

## 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.