How common is the surname Howell?

112,041 people in the United States had the surname Howell in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 2,756 Americans. It ranked 272nd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Howell?

C. Thomas Howell, American actor and film director (born 1966), followed by Kirby Howell-Baptiste.

Where is the surname Howell most common?

Wikidata records people named Howell in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia and 1 other country.

How do you pronounce Howell?

Howell is /haʊ(w)əɫ/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Howell getting more or less common?

More common. 109,634 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 112,041 in 2010, up 2.2%.

Is Howell also a first name?

Yes. Howell 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 Howell

A patronymic surname, carried by 112,041 people in the United States.

Pronounced /haʊ(w)əɫ/ 2 syllables Soundex H400 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Howell is more common than 99.8% of them.

Origin

From Welsh Hywel. Doublet of Huell and Powell.

Howell 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 112,041 people named Howell in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 2,756 Americans. That is up 2.2% since 2000, when the Census counted 109,634.

#272

rank among US surnames

112,041

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+2.2%

change since 2000 (was #249)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#263	Montgomery	115,953	2,663
#264	Oliver	115,900	2,664
#265	Jensen	115,679	2,669
#266	Harvey	115,662	2,669
#267	Williamson	114,959	2,686
#268	Gilbert	114,940	2,686
#269	Dean	114,030	2,708

Who is named Howell

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

79% of people named Howell identified as white (not Hispanic), 15% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 79%
Black (not Hispanic) 15%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
Two or more races 1.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Howells

26 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

C. Thomas Howell
American actor and film director (born 1966)
Kirby Howell-Baptiste
British actress, born 1987
Maria Howell
American actress, singer and composer, born 1950
Bailey Howell
American basketball player (born 1937)
Walter Howell
Australian rower, born 1929
David Howell
British chess player, born 1990
James Howell
Anglo-Welsh historian and writer, 1594–1666
Thomas J. Howell
American botanist (1842-1912)
Alice Howell
American actress (1888-1961)
Dick Howell
American swimmer, former world record-holder, 1903–1967
Yvonne Howell
American actress (1905-2010)
William Henry Howell
American physiologist (1860–1945)

Notable Howells come mostly from the United States (21), the United Kingdom (3) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Howell

Howell has the Soundex code H400, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code H400.

Questions

Where does the surname Howell come from?: From Welsh Hywel. Doublet of Huell and Powell.
How common is the surname Howell?: 112,041 people in the United States had the surname Howell in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 2,756 Americans. It ranked 272nd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Howell?: In the 2010 Census, 79% of people named Howell identified as white (not Hispanic), and 15% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Howell?: C. Thomas Howell, American actor and film director (born 1966), followed by Kirby Howell-Baptiste.
Where is the surname Howell most common?: Wikidata records people named Howell in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia and 1 other country.
How do you pronounce Howell?: Howell is /haʊ(w)əɫ/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Howell?: Howell is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Howell getting more or less common?: More common. 109,634 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 112,041 in 2010, up 2.2%.
Is Howell also a first name?: Yes. Howell 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.