Explore the Family Name Rowsey

The meaning of Rowsey

Altered form of a Walloon or perhaps French (mainly northern) surname, probably Rouzé or Rousé (see Rouse), variants of Rosé (see Rose). The surname Rowsey was brought to North America from England. Compare Rousey and Rowzee.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Rowsey saw a modest increase in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked 21,395 in terms of frequency and rose slightly to 21,403 by 2010 - a change of -0.04%. The count of people with the Rowsey surname increased by 7.19%, from 1,140 in 2000 to 1,222 in 2010. However, the proportion per 100,000 people dipped slightly, from 0.42 in 2000 to 0.41 in 2010, marking a decrease of 2.38%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#21,395	#21,403	-0.04%
Count	1,140	1,222	7.19%
Proportion per 100k	0.42	0.41	-2.38%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Rowsey

The ethnic identity tied to the Rowsey surname also saw shifts during this period, as revealed by the Decennial U.S. Census data. While the percentage of those identifying as White decreased from 80.26% in 2000 to 77.66% in 2010, the percentage of those identifying as Black saw a slight increase, from 15.96% to 16.94%. There was a notable increase among those identifying as Hispanic, which surged by 73.17%, from 1.23% to 2.13%. Those identifying with two or more races rose from 1.58% to 1.72%, while the American Indian and Alaskan Native category appeared in 2010 with a 1.15% representation. Asian/Pacific Islander representation was suppressed for privacy reasons in both years.

	2000	2010	Change
White	80.26%	77.66%	-3.24%
Black	15.96%	16.94%	6.14%
Hispanic	1.23%	2.13%	73.17%
Two or More Races	1.58%	1.72%	8.86%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	1.15%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0.41%	0%