Lowery
A surname with closely related Irish and English forms, often connected with the names Lowry and Lavery.
The #799 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 7,134 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Lowery is usually treated as a spelling variant of Lowry, and in Irish usage it is commonly linked to Gaelic surnames such as Ó Labhraí or related forms, with a personal-name sense behind them. In English records it can also reflect a surname developed from the medieval personal name Lowry, itself associated with Laurence. The ending -ery reflects later spelling variation rather than a separate root meaning.
History
The name appears in Irish and Scottish records in several overlapping spellings, including Lowry, Lowery, and Lavery, and these forms were often interchanged by clerks and ministers. In North America, Lowery became fairly widespread through English, Scottish, and Irish migration, which helps explain its modern distribution. The surname is also found in older British parish records under variant spellings.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some older surname indexes group Lowery, Lowry, and Lavery together because historical spelling was highly fluid.
From the historical record
“1677. Boried->Mary Lowery : St. Dionts Backchorch, p. 343. 174a. Married— Edward Lowry and Sarah Gilbert : St Geo. Chap. Mayfair, p. ao.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)