Lowell
A surname usually treated as a variant of Lovell, with some older writers also linking it to local English place-names.
The #5,302 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 47,000 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Most historical surname dictionaries treat Lowell as a spelling variant of Lovell, ultimately from Old French or Anglo-Norman personal-name forms connected with the word for a wolf. In that tradition, the name began as a nickname or hereditary surname rather than a place-name. Some older writers also mention possible local associations, but the Lovell connection is the standard explanation.
History
Bardsley explicitly says Lowell is a variant of Lovell and cites medieval spellings that show the name used both ways. The surname was established in England by the Middle Ages and later carried to North America, where it became especially familiar through notable bearers such as the Lowell family of Massachusetts. Because the spelling stabilized late, both Lowell and Lovell can appear in older records for the same family line.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname is often remembered in the U.S. because of the prominent Lowell family, which included poets, scholars, and public figures in Massachusetts.
From the historical record
“one of the various forms of loiij), a wolf. LOWELL. Probably the same as Le- vel]. LOWEN. See Lewin. LOWER. The registered pedigree of the Lowers of Cornwall carries them back to about the time of Jolin or Henry III., and both name and family are probably from a Corno-British source. In Sussex, almost the only…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United KingdomNotable people named Lowell
- Percival Lowell (1855–1916)
- James Russell Lowell (1819–1891)
- Amy Lowell (1874–1925)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.