Explore the Family Name Bow
The meaning of Bow
1. Scottish and English: habitational name from any of various minor places called with Old English boga ‘bow, arch, vault’, i.e. an arched bridge. There are places so called in Midlothian, Middlesex, and Devon. 2. Irish and English: variant of Bowes. 3. Chinese: possibly from Cantonese form of the Chinese names 寶 (meaning ‘treasure’) or 保 (meaning ‘protect’), which were monosyllabic personal names or part of disyllabic personal names of some early Chinese immigrants in the US. 4. Chinese: variant Romanization of the surnames 包 and 鮑, see Bao 1 and 2.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Bow in the United States?
Based on the data derived from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Bow has witnessed a decline in popularity between 2000 and 2010. The rank of the surname dropped from 14,823 to 16,909, representing a 14.07% decrease. Moreover, the count of individuals possessing the surname also fell from 1,835 in 2000 to 1,684 in 2010, marking an 8.23% dip. Consequently, the prevalence of the Bow surname per 100,000 people saw a significant reduction of 16.18%, falling to 0.57 in the year 2010.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #14,823 | #16,909 | -14.07% |
| Count | 1,835 | 1,684 | -8.23% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.68 | 0.57 | -16.18% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Bow
The ethnic identity associated with the Bow surname experienced some noticeable changes between 2000 and 2010, as evidenced by the Decennial U.S. Census data. The percentage of those identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander decreased slightly by 3.86%, while the proportion of Black individuals slipped by 8.44%. Despite these decreases, the representation of Hispanic and American Indian and Alaskan Native increased by 70.22% and 14.73% respectively. However, the largest group remained those who identified as White, although this category also saw a slight drop of 1.85%. The percentage of individuals claiming two or more races stayed relatively stable with a marginal increase of 1.95%.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 71.39% | 70.07% | -1.85% |
| Black | 10.9% | 9.98% | -8.44% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 8.28% | 7.96% | -3.86% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 4.14% | 4.75% | 14.73% |
| Hispanic | 2.72% | 4.63% | 70.22% |
| Two or More Races | 2.56% | 2.61% | 1.95% |