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There are approximately 6,978 people named Gower in the UK. That makes it the 1,535th most common surname overall. Out of every million people in the UK, approximately 110 are named Gower.

Region of origin

British Isles

Country of origin

England

Language of origin

English

Religion of origin

Christian

Classification

English
Occupational Name

Related and similar surnames

Gowers
Goar
Goor
Gher
Gore
Gor
Ghere
Goree
Gores
Gori
Gar
Gora
Gawe
Ghorr
Ghore
Goare
Ghoor
Ghier
Gaere
Gherr
Gheer
Ghour
Gorez
Goars
Gorew
Goreee
Gorgh
Goors
Ghorz
Ghors
Gawes
Ghear

The Gower surname in historical dictionaries

An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names (1857)

(origin: Local Welsh.) Gwyr, a place in Glamorganshire, a place inclosed round, encircled. This peninsula is mostly surrounded by the sea and rivers.

Arthur, William (1857) An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman. Public Domain.

Patronymica Britannica (1860)

GOWER. "All our Antiquaries agree that this family is one of the oldest in the county of York, and of Anglo-Saxon origin, though they differ as to its patriarch, whom some will have to be Sir Alan Gower, said to be sheriff of that county at the time of the Norman Conquest, A.D. lOGG, and lord of Stittcnham in the same county, now possessed by the Duke of Sutherland, the chief of the house while others with greater probability assert that it descended from one Guhyer, whose son, called William Fitz-Guhyer of Stittenham, was charged with a mark for his lauds in the sheriff's account, 11G7, 13 Henry II., and that Alan was very likely his son." Collins' Peerage 17G8, V. 340. The poet Gower is said to have been of the Stittenham stock, though he did not bear the same arms. Lelaud says : " The house of Gower the poet yet remaineth at Switenham (Stittenham), in Yorkshire, and divers of them sjns have been knightes." The noble Gowers pronounce their name as if written Gore, but a jeomanry family in the south of England make it rhyme with ' power,' or ' shower.'

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.

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