Powe
A surname usually explained as a shortened form of Pool/Poole in Scotland and northern England, though some sources also connect it to local place-names.
The #7,821 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 72,938 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually treated as an apocopated, or shortened, form of Pool(e), meaning someone who lived near a pool or small body of water. One historical source also suggests a Scottish and northern English use connected with a generic word for a sluggish stream. Because of the similarity to Welsh place-name elements, older writers sometimes linked it to local topography, but the safest explanation is a shortened locational name.
History
The name appears in Scotland and northern England in older surname lists, and it survives as a relatively uncommon modern surname. Its spelling is compact and variable, which fits a name that was often recorded phonetically rather than standardized early on. Some historical references also place it alongside related forms like Poole and Powell, showing how easily such short surnames could merge or shift in record-keeping.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 20th-century surname dictionary explicitly glosses Powe as a shortened form of Pool(e), showing how a one-syllable surname can preserve a much older place-based meaning.
From the historical record
“POW IScot. and North. Eng. apocopated POWE J forms of Pool(e, q.v. POWDER (Celt.) Bel. to Powder (Cornwall) = the Oaktree-Region [Corn, pow (Wel. pan), region; dar (Wel.^iir), oaktree] POWDRELL, the French Poudrel, app. for the O.Teut. pers. name Poldheri [O.H.Ger. pold, bald, bold -|- heri, army] -|- the Fr. dim.…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)