# Tovey (surname)

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

A surname from Old Norse.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Norse |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 868 |
| US rank (2010) | 27,707 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 355,698 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.5% (839 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈtəʊvi/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From the Old Norse personal name Tófi, a reduced form of any of various personal names containing the element Þórr (“Thor”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Tovey 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) | 93% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 1.1% |
| Two or more races | 1.8% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Tovey in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Australia.

## People named Tovey

- Russell Tovey, British actor
- Donald Tovey, British composer, pianist and musicologist (1875–1940)
- Neil Tovey, Association footballer
- Jessica Tovey, Australian actress

## Similar surnames

Tobey, Tope, Toby, Tapia, Tafoya, Tapp, Tabb, Taub, Topp, Thapa, Taff, Tebo.

## 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.