Lower
A surname with at least two possible roots: in some families it may be a Cornish name, while in others it may go back to a medieval place-name or topographic by-name.
The #7,183 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 66,354 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The 19th-century evidence points to more than one origin. Lower’s own dictionary says the Cornish Lowers can be traced to the time of John or Henry III and were probably from a Cornish or Cornu-British source; he also suggests the Sussex name may be the same as medieval Atte-Lowe. That leaves open a topographic sense for some English bearers, probably connected with a 'low' or hill-foot location, while other lines may be genuinely Cornish in origin rather than derived from the adjective 'low' alone.
History
The surname appears in Cornwall early, and Lower thought the Cornish family was the principal bearer's line. He also noted the name in Sussex by the 15th century, but did not find a link between the two groups. Because the surname is relatively uncommon and regionally scattered, it may represent independent local origins rather than one single family tree.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Lower explicitly says he could not yet connect the Cornish and Sussex families, a good reminder that the same surname can arise more than once.
From the historical record
“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 other county in which the name occurs, it is found as early as temp. Henry VI., but I…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom