# McGowan (surname)

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

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | occupational, named after the work an ancestor did |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 33,340 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,046 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 9,261 people |
| Change since 2000 | +5.3% (31,669 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Macgowan |

## Etymology

Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Mac a' Ghobhainn and Irish Mac Gabhann (literally “son of the smith”). Compare Scottish Gaelic gobha (“smith”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named McGowan 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) | 75% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 20% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 1.9% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named McGowan in the United States, Australia and Italy.

## People named McGowan

- Rose McGowan, American actress, director and activist
- Ryan McGowan, Australian association football player
- Zach McGowan, American actor
- Dylan McGowan, Australian association football player
- J. P. McGowan, Australian film director (1880–1952)
- Tom McGowan, actor
- Robert F. McGowan, American film director and producer (1882–1955)
- Mark McGowan, Australian politician
- Robert A. McGowan, American politician (1901-1955)
- Kathleen McGowan, American writer

## Similar surnames

McCowan, McGowen, McKeown, McSwain, McGinn, McCown, McGann, McKown, McEwan, McGeehan, McGahan, McGown.

## 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.