Howe Family History

Howe Surname Meaning

English: topographic name pronounced to rhyme with hoe, who, or how, from Middle English hoʒe ‘spur of a hill, steep ridge, or slight rise’. Hoʒe comes from a late variant hōge of the dative case of the Old English root word hōh, literally ‘heel (of a person) or hock (of an animal)’, a common placename element. The regular Old English dative singular hō is the source of the placenames Hoo and Hoe and the surname may also be habitational name from a placename consisting of this word, for example Hoe (Norfolk), Hoo (Kent), Hooe (Devon, Sussex), or either of two places called The Hoo in Great Gaddesden and Saint Paul's Walden (Hertfordshire).

Hose (Leicestershire) comes from the plural form of the word (see Howes). Howe may also be from Old Norse haugr ‘mound, hill’; for without other evidence, this cannot be distinguished from howe ‘spur of a hill’ and is certainly the origin of Howe (Norfolk) and Howe Hill in Kirkburn (East Yorkshire). See also Hough.

English: variant of Hugh, pronounced to rhyme with who or how. Americanized form of one or more similar (like-sounding) Jewish surnames. Americanized form of Norwegian Hove.

Irish: variant of Haugh. Irish: variant of Hoey.

Chinese: variant Romanization of the surnames 侯, see Hou. Chinese: possibly from Cantonese form of the Chinese names 豪 (meaning ‘heroic’) or 浩 (meaning ‘vast’) or 昊 (meaning ‘extensive and limitless’), which were monosyllabic personal names or part of disyllabic personal names of some early Chinese immigrants in the US.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022

Similar surnames: Hope, Hole, Hoe, Hone, Rowe, Hose, Hove, Hoye, Howes, Hoad

2 million record(s) for Howe

664K	Birth, Marriage, and Deaths
84K	Military Records
49K	Immigration Records
528K	Census and Voter Lists
1M	Member Trees

Where is the Howe family from?

You can see how Howe families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Howe family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Howe families were found in USA in 1880. In 1840 there were 309 Howe families living in Massachusetts. This was about 26% of all the recorded Howe's in USA. Massachusetts had the highest population of Howe families in 1840.

Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Howe surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.

What did your Howe ancestors do for a living?

In 1940, Laborer and Housewife were the top reported jobs for men and women in the USA named Howe. 13% of Howe men worked as a Laborer and 9% of Howe women worked as a Housewife. Some less common occupations for Americans named Howe were Clerk and Housekeeper.

We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

Top Male Occupations In 1940

Laborer

13%

Farmer

12%

Salesman

7%

Clerk

4%

Top Female Occupations In 1940

Housewife

9%

Teacher

8%

Stenographer

6%

Housekeeper

6%

What Howe family records will you find?

Census Record

There are 528K census records available for the last name Howe. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Howe census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Passenger List

There are 49K immigration records available for the last name Howe. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in the USA, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

Military Records

There are 84K military records available for the last name Howe. For the veterans among your Howe ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

What is the average Howe lifespan?

Between 1941 and 2004, in the United States, Howe life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1941, and highest in 1999. The average life expectancy for Howe in 1941 was 24, and 77 in 2004.

An unusually short lifespan might indicate that your Howe ancestors lived in harsh conditions. A short lifespan might also indicate health problems that were once prevalent in your family. The SSDI is a searchable database of more than 70 million names. You can find birthdates, death dates, addresses and more.