Chow
A surname with several possible origins, most often linked to Chinese names in modern use, but the historical evidence here is too thin to pin down one single source with confidence.
The #2,122 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 18,099 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Chow is commonly used as an Anglicized spelling of several Chinese surnames, especially forms that are romanized differently under other systems or dialects. In older English-language sources, however, this spelling is not enough by itself to identify a single original Chinese character or meaning. The historical excerpts provided do not give a clear etymology for the surname as a family name, so the safest description is that it is an Anglicized form of a Chinese surname.
History
In English-speaking countries, Chow is found mainly among families of Chinese heritage, often reflecting older romanization habits rather than a single standardized spelling. Because Chinese surnames were rendered in many different ways before modern pinyin became widespread, the same family name may appear under different spellings across records. The supplied historical excerpts mention “Chow” only incidentally, not as a surname entry, so they do not clarify a specific surname origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same Chinese surname may be spelled several different ways in English records, depending on dialect, port of entry, and the romanization system used.
From the historical record
“KELSO. Local. Derived from the town of Kelso, in Rox- burghshire, Scotland. Kelso was originally written Cal- chow, a corruption of Chalkheugh, the chalk-hill. KELSEY. Local. A town in Lincolnshire, England. Kelsey, in Cornish British, signifies the " dry neck," fromKel, a neck, and syck, dry.”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names