Explore the Family Name Cowgill

The meaning of Cowgill

English Yorkshire and Lancashire: habitational name from any of the places called Cowgill in Yorkshire; all are named with Old Norse gil ‘narrow valley, ravine’ with various first elements including Old English cū ‘cow’ and Old English col ‘(char)coal’.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Cowgill in the United States?

The Cowgill surname, according to data from the Decennial U.S. Census, has seen a slight decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, the name ranked 11,321st in commonality, but by 2010, it had slipped to 11,914th, a decrease of approximately 5.24%. Despite this change in rank, the actual count of individuals with the Cowgill surname increased from 2,561 to 2,628 during the same time frame, reflecting a 2.62% growth. However, its proportion per 100,000 people declined by about 6.32%, from 0.95 to 0.89.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#11,321	#11,914	-5.24%
Count	2,561	2,628	2.62%
Proportion per 100k	0.95	0.89	-6.32%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Cowgill

Regarding the ethnicity of individuals bearing the Cowgill surname, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals a few shifts between 2000 and 2010. Among those identifying as White, there was a minor drop from 95.63% to 93.84%. However, the percentage of people identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander and those reporting two or more races saw significant increases, 64.86% and 72.65% respectively. The Hispanic population within the Cowgill family also grew by 28.49%, while the proportions of Black and American Indian/Alaskan Native remained relatively stable.

	2000	2010	Change
White	95.63%	93.84%	-1.87%
Hispanic	1.72%	2.21%	28.49%
Two or More Races	1.17%	2.02%	72.65%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.74%	1.22%	64.86%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.47%	0.46%	-2.13%
Black	0.27%	0.27%	0%