Explore the Family Name Dow
The meaning of Dow
1. Scottish: nickname from Gaelic dubh ‘black’ (see Duff). 2. English: from the Middle English personal name Dow, a rhyming pet form of Row(e), representing a common pronunciation of Rolf, a side form of Ralph. See Rolfe and compare Daw, Dawson, and Dowson. Alternatively, in East Anglia the name may be a variant of Dove. 3. Americanized form of Dutch Douw: from the personal name Douwe, from Frisian dou ‘pigeon’. 4. Americanized form of German Dau. 5. Americanized form of French Daoust. History: Henry Dow (1634–1707), a NH soldier and statesman, was born at Ormsby in Norfolkshire, England. His father migrated with his family to Watertown in the colony of Massachusetts Bay in 1637 and moved to Hampton in the province of NH in 1644. Henry became an influential and prosperous figure in Hampton. He married twice and had four sons. — Some of the American Dows are descended from Guillaume Daoust from France, who was in QC by 1686 (see Daoust). One of them was Joseph H. Dow from Saginaw County, MI: he was a son of John Daoust, Sr., who moved from QC to the US in the middle of the 19th century. — The Dutch name Douw is recorded in Beverwyck in New Netherland (now Albany, NY) in the mid-17th century.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Dow in the United States?
Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname "Dow" has seen a slight decrease in popularity from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, Dow ranked at 2,278 amongst all surnames but dropped to 2,356 in 2010, representing a fractional decline of 3.42%. However, the actual count of individuals with the surname increased during this period from 14,622 to 15,472, marking an improvement of 5.81%. The proportion of people named Dow per 100,000 also decreased slightly by 3.14% during this decade.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #2,278 | #2,356 | -3.42% |
| Count | 14,622 | 15,472 | 5.81% |
| Proportion per 100k | 5.42 | 5.25 | -3.14% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Dow
The ethnic identity associated with the surname "Dow" also saw some changes from 2000 to 2010, according to Decennial U.S. Census data. In 2000, the majority of Dows identified as White (84.16%), which decreased marginally to 83.14% in 2010. There was a small increase in those who identified as having two or more ethnicities, rising from 1.43% to 2.00%. Asian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic identities also saw slight increases of 3.20% and 22.99%, respectively. Those identifying as Black remained almost constant, decreasing only by 0.10%. Conversely, the percentage of those identifying as American Indian and Alaskan Native saw a significant decrease, dropping from 0.96% to 0.78%.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 84.16% | 83.14% | -1.21% |
| Black | 9.59% | 9.58% | -0.1% |
| Hispanic | 2.61% | 3.21% | 22.99% |
| Two or More Races | 1.43% | 2% | 39.86% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 1.25% | 1.29% | 3.2% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0.96% | 0.78% | -18.75% |
Dow ancestry composition
23andMe computes an ancestry breakdown for each customer. People may have ancestry from just one population or they may have ancestry from several populations. The most commonly-observed ancestry found in people with the surname Dow is British & Irish, which comprises 51.6% of all ancestry found in people with the surname. The next two most common ancestries are French & German (21.0%) and Scandinavian (4.2%). Additional ancestries include Eastern European, Italian, Spanish & Portuguese, Ashkenazi Jewish, and Nigerian.
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| ANCESTRY BREAKDOWN | COMPOSITION |
|---|---|
| British & Irish | 51.6% |
| French & German | 21.0% |
| Scandinavian | 4.2% |
| Other | 23.2% |
Possible origins of the surname Dow
Your DNA provides clues about where your recent ancestors may have lived. Having many distant relatives in the same location suggests that you may all share common ancestry there. Locations with many distant relatives can also be places where people have migrated recently, such as large cities. If a large number of individuals who share your surname have distant relatives in a specific area, it could indicate a connection between your surname and that location, stemming from either recent ancestral ties or migration.
Based on 23andMe data, people with last name Dow have recent ancestry locations in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Ireland.
| RECENT ANCESTRY Location | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Greater London, United Kingdom | 84.60% |
| Glasgow City, United Kingdom | 84.40% |
| Tyne And Wear, United Kingdom | 84.40% |
| Merseyside, United Kingdom | 84.20% |
| Greater Manchester, United Kingdom | 84.20% |
What Dow haplogroups can tell you
Haplogroups are genetic population groups that share a common ancestor on either your paternal or maternal line. These paternal and maternal haplogroups shed light on your genetic ancestry and help tell the story of your family.
The top paternal haplogroup of people with the surname Dow is Q-L804, which is predominantly found among people with European ancestry. Haplogroup Q-L804 is descended from haplogroup Q-M242. Other common haplogroups include R-L477 and R-CTS241, which are predominantly found among people with European and European ancestry. Other surnames with similar common haplogroups are: Thornhill, Yates, Pearson, Craft, Booher, White, Parker, Thompson, Hall, Shaw.
The most common maternal haplogroups of people with Dow surname are: H1, T2b, H. These most commonly trace back to individuals of European ancestry.
Paternal Haplogroup Origins Q-M242Your maternal lineage may be linked to Marie Antoinette
Because it is so dominant in the general European population, haplogroup H also appears quite frequently in the continent's royal houses. Marie Antoinette, an Austrian Hapsburg who married into the French royal family, inherited the haplogroup from her maternal ancestors. So did Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, whose recorded genealogy traces his female line to Bavaria. Scientists also discovered that famed 16th century astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus traced his maternal lineages to haplogroup H.
What do people with the surname Dow have in common?
Spoiler alert: it's complicated. People with the same last name are usually no more genetically similar than a randomly sampled group of people from the same population. That said, people with the same surname are more likely to have similar ancestries than randomly sampled individuals. The reason is the tendency of people with similar cultural or geographical backgrounds to preferentially mate with one another. That's why people who share a surname may be more likely to share traits and tendencies in common than people within the general population. Check out the percentages below to see the prevalences of tastes, habits, and traits of people with your surname compared with prevalences among 23andMe users.
Preferences
Chocolate Ice Cream
Prefers chocolate flavored ice cream over other flavors.
"Dow" Surname 44.9%
23andMe Users 41.3%
Traits
Misophonia
When sounds made by others, like the sound of chewing or yawning, provoke strong emotional reactions in an individual.
"Dow" Surname 29.4%
23andMe Users 27.9%
Habits
Sugary Drink
Drinks one or more sugary drinks per day.
"Dow" Surname 19.4%
23andMe Users 21.1%
Wellness
Migraine
A severe headache characterized by intense pain, sensitivity to light and sound, and often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.
"Dow" Surname 17.8%
23andMe Users 16.4%
Are health conditions linked to the last name Dow?
The short answer is that, if there is an association between surname and health, it's usually more about your ancestry than your name. Individuals with a given surname are no more genetically similar than the general population but often have similar ancestries. The populations of people associated with those shared ancestries often have sets of genetic variations, also known as alleles, in common. Some of those alleles are associated with a greater likelihood of developing certain diseases.
Disease variant frequency by ancestry
Disease allele frequencies in populations associated with the surname Dow are shown below. Important Note: not everyone with a disease allele will develop these health condition