Explore the Family Name Sova

The meaning of Sova

1. Czech, Slovak, Ukrainian, Rusyn, Croatian, and Slovenian: nickname from sova ‘owl’. 2. Altered form of French Sauvé (see Sauve). History: Some of the American bearers of the surname Sova are descendants of Pierre Sauvé dit Laplante from France (see Sauve).

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Sova witnessed a decrease between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 12,757 in terms of popularity, but by 2010, it had dropped to rank 13,752, indicating a 7.8% decrease. The count of individuals with the Sova surname also decreased slightly from 2,220 in 2000 to 2,200 in 2010, representing a minor decline of 0.9%. The proportion of individuals with this surname per 100,000 people also declined by approximately 8.54%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#12,757	#13,752	-7.8%
Count	2,220	2,200	-0.9%
Proportion per 100k	0.82	0.75	-8.54%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Sova

Shifting focus to ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census revealed that most individuals with the Sova surname identified as White, with 94.10% in 2000 and 93.95% in 2010. The proportion identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander increased slightly from 0.72% to 0.73%. There was also a noticeable increase in the percentage of individuals identifying as Hispanic, rising from 2.88% to 3.50%. However, the proportion of individuals who identified with two or more races declined significantly by 22.88%, while those identifying as Black and American Indian and Alaskan Native were suppressed for privacy reasons in the 2010 data.

	2000	2010	Change
White	94.1%	93.95%	-0.16%
Hispanic	2.88%	3.5%	21.53%
Two or More Races	1.53%	1.18%	-22.88%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.72%	0.73%	1.39%
Black	0.32%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.45%	0%	0%